Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Nobody is arguing that we did not require additional supports for those who are less well-off and those on modest incomes in terms of battling through the cost-of-living crisis. It is how we have presented it in the House. In recent years the budget has been presented in a very opaque way. Many budgetary items described in recent years as "once-off" have, in fact, persisted. This is the issue that IFAC has with the way in which the budget is presented.

If we look at the early round of budget kite flying at present, and take social welfare payments as an example, the Tánaiste has been floating the idea of a €12 weekly increase in pensions. The cost-of-living package for those who rely on social welfare payments for their income is indicative of the fact there is an admission by the Government that weekly social welfare payments are entirely inadequate to assist people in their everyday lives. We know the value of the pension has diminished as inflation has increased. When we say that inflation is reducing, what we should be saying is that the rate of inflation is slowing. Things are still very expensive. When we look at how budgets are presented, we need to acknowledge the fact that we need to look, for example, at the social welfare system through the lens of income adequacy and not merely figures plucked out of the air as the Tánaiste did when he said we should consider a weekly pension increase of €12.

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