On Tuesday 7th October, the Government published Budget 2026. In his speech Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD said that “This Budget builds up our resilience and will help us to adapt at a time of historic challenge for our economy and society.” He noted the progress being made in Ireland, while also acknowledging that “not everyone feels the benefits of it in their daily lives. For many, concerns about their cost of living and about access to a home remain paramount.”
In our Pre-Budget Submission, the INOU called for a social welfare increase of €16. This increase was sought as the removal of one-off measures in Budget 2026 will reveal the gaps in investment in social protection payments and will leave even more people living below the bread line. A €10 increase to €254 will come into effect from January 2026 for people receiving the Jobseeker’s Allowance and Jobseeker’s Benefit. Though it is a move in the right direction, the reality is that it will barely support people to cope with living costs that continue to increase and leaves income adequacy out of reach for so many people.
In Budget 2026 the INOU called on the Government to address the age inequality in the Jobseeker's Allowance payment whereby the maximum payment a young person aged 18 to 24 years receives is €153.70. Regrettably this issue was not addressed, though this payment will increase by €10 to €163.70 from January. With increasing youth unemployment, thousands of young people will not be able to achieve an adequate income at a crucial point in their lives.
The INOU was also disappointed that this budget did not take the opportunity to apply a much needed increase in the capital means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance.
The INOU had called for an increase of €10 in the top-up payment provided to participants in employment programmes. The €5 increase to the top-up payment for participants in Community Employment, TÚS and the Rural Social Scheme is welcome, and will be €32.50 from January 2026. We will continue to advocate for travel passes to be issued to participants to facilitate further engagement in these valuable programmes.
The Fuel Allowance was increased by €5 per week and extended to people in receipt of the Working Family Payment. The INOU has sought a change in the waiting period for people in receipt of a Jobseeker's Allowance or Supplementary Welfare Allowance to be eligible for the Fuel Allowance from 12 months to 6 months. Unfortunately, this was not addressed in Budget 2026, leaving many people in fuel poverty for this coming Winter.
The INOU called for increases to the Child Support Payment, and we are pleased to see increases of €8 for children under 12yrs and €16 for children aged 12yrs and over. This signals that the Government are making progress towards addressing child poverty, however, core social welfare rates remain below the minimum needed to reach income adequacy.
The full Christmas Bonus will be paid to people who are long-term social welfare recipients, this means people have been on a payment for at least 12 months and includes some people participating in activation programmes.
At present we are working on our analysis of the Budget, comparing it with what we called on the Government to do and what is in Budget 2026. It will be available shortly on our website.