Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Pre-Budget Engagement

3:30 pm

Dr. Tom McDonnell:

As the ESRI mentioned earlier, the focus on once-off payments means that once they are withdrawn standards of living will not have kept up with the costs of living, so people will fall further into deprivation. Some people are already falling further into deprivation. We have seen material deprivation numbers increase in recent years. When I refer to the people who are losing, that is who we are talking about. My colleague, Mr. Nugent, can give the percentages of which cohorts in society are experiencing deprivation at particular rates.