Mr. John McGeady:

Gabhaim buíochas leis an coiste as ucht an cuireadh. Given the challenges faced by many households, particularly those on the lowest incomes, much of the assistance provided in budget 2024 is welcome and badly needed. There is a marked difference, however, in the distribution of gains. In time, temporary measures will disappear, while permanent changes will remain. Counting permanent and temporary measures, the budget gives more resources to lower income households in the short term, but once these temporary measures are discontinued, the gains to welfare-dependent households will fall by 35% to 46%. These one-off measures are a response to cost-of-living pressures. However, although the rate of inflation may fall, a fall in prices would require deflation. High prices will remain but the one-off supports will not.

Budget 2024 has provided least for lower-income workers. There are well over 500,000 people earning €15 to €20 per hour, which is above the minimum wage but too little to really benefit from tax cuts. For example, a couple with one earner on €30,000 has gained just €1.62 per week from this budget, whereas a couple with two earners on €100,000 is up nearly €30 per week. Overall, the budget's legacy will be to widen further the gap between the better-off and those on the lowest incomes.

Budget 2024 was pitched as an anti-child poverty budget, a goal we welcome. Approximately 190,000 children in Ireland, or one in seven, are in poverty. Child poverty is, in essence, an issue of low-income families. Solutions hinge on adequate adult welfare rates, decent rates of pay for working parents and adequate and available public services. The budget, however, failed to adequately resource those areas. We are disappointed that child benefit, a key tool for tackling child poverty, was not increased.

As regards housing, an increase in housing stock is essential. Between 2012 and 2022, residential property prices rose by 75% and private rents by 90%, while wages rose by only 27%. In the context of inadequate supply, the extension of the help-to-buy and first home schemes will simply maintain high house prices. Meanwhile, the commitment to build 9,300 social homes in 2024 fails to take account of the 1,500 shortfall on the 2022 target and the likely shortfall in 2023.

In terms of tax, raising the threshold for the higher rate only benefits those on incomes above €40,000. Changes to the USC will only benefit those with incomes above €22,920 and are negligible for workers on €15 to €20 per hour. Social Justice Ireland again recommends refundable tax credits as a means of making the tax system fairer, especially for those in part-time low-paid work.

Regrettably, the long-term strategic investment required to build and deliver the services and infrastructure to support a just transition was absent from the budget. While we welcome the infrastructure, nature and climate fund and the future Ireland fund, we are concerned that there is limited information as to how these funds will be used.

In conclusion, there is considerable evidence to show that the cost-of-living crisis hits low-income families hardest. Budget 2024 was an opportunity to address this but, instead of doing so, it contained a range of temporary measures for the poorest, while favouring the better-off with permanent tax changes. Social Justice Ireland does not accept the aspects of the budget that ignore the most vulnerable and will leave them poorer when one-off measures are discontinued early next year. We call on the Government to revisit its decisions in these areas and make the necessary adjustments in the forthcoming social welfare Bill. We urge it to increase core social welfare rates by €25 a week. Anything less is a failure to do what is necessary to address poverty.