Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris and Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Jack Chambers published Budget 2027, a Budget which once again is the highest Budget allocation in the history of the state. The Government has framed this Budget as a budget for workers, while addressing known challenges with energy prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and rises in borrowing costs with changes to the global bond markets.
INOU Asks
The theme of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) 2027 Pre-Budget Submission was “Making Progress Inclusive” and it covered: income adequacy; supportive employment services; employment and employment programmes; education and skills; and supporting communities and community organisations.
Amongst the key measures put forward in our Pre-Budget Submission, there were three which highlight the issues facing unemployed people today; people who are on already low incomes and now face increasing pressures as the cost of living rises alongside challenges to accessing decent work.
1. Address increasing rates of poverty: Maintain the value of Working-Age income supports with a €15 increase.
2. Make work pay: Change the rules of Jobseeker's Allowance income disregards which haven't been changed in twenty years.
3. Expand opportunities to work: Provide travel passes and improve the quality of back to work schemes, to let people access opportunities for employment, education and training.
Budget 2027 Measures
The INOU welcomes the €10 increase to social welfare payments, which includes Jobseeker’s Allowance and the Supplementary Welfare Allowance. However, it is below the €15 needed to work towards attaining the Minimum Essential Standard of Living and will not address the issue that 1 in 5 people who are unemployed are living in consistent poverty. Increases to the Fuel Allowance and the full Christmas Bonus are welcome, however, they remain only available to people who are on Jobseeker’s Allowance for over a year. We welcome the €2.50 top-up increase to TÚS and Community Employment participants, and €5 increase for Job Incentive participants.
We welcome changes to the income disregards for Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, One Parent Family Payment, and the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment. But it is very disappointing that no changes have been made to the outdated means testing and assessment for both Jobseeker’s and Supplementary Welfare Allowance, with the same rules in place for two decades. It is also disappointing to see no changes to the Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit, allowing the Payment to lose much of its value over
two consecutive Budgets. There was also no movement to address the age discrimination evident in the reduced rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance paid to young adults.
The rise in the Child Support Payment and the €30 increase in weekly income thresholds for the Working Family Payment (WFP) are both welcome. It is now crucial that INOU calls to increase uptake of the WFP are listened to, as only half of eligible families take up this crucial payment and are informed of the existing supports available, such as the Back to Work Family Dividend.
No systematic changes have been announced to allow people to access transport or address the costs to access opportunities such as adult education and training, and people will soon pay higher public transport fares. Minor changes have been made to the Work Placement Experience Programme and eligibility for TÚS; however, the Government has not invested in the changes needed to ensure employment supports enable people to access decent work.
Looking to the Future
Increasing erosion of the tax base and reliance on corporation tax receipts for current Government spending leaves the economy very vulnerable, and the INOU is concerned that austerity measures may kick in if the economy takes a downturn in the coming years. Alongside investment in public services, protecting people who are more exposed to cost-of-living pressures, including people distanced from the labour market, is critical to avoid repeating the cutbacks and austerity measures taken following the 2008 recession.
Further analysis by the INOU will be made available later for Budget 2027.