- Do not proceed with the new lone parent cuts
- Remove barriers to people on social welfare taking up work
- All measures should be assessed for their impact on poverty
- Increase overall tax take to average EU levels
The European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland, an alliance of over 300 national and local organisations fighting poverty, has called for a budget to protect the poor and to build a more inclusive society. This will require tough decisions on resources to ensure that welfare payments lift people out of poverty and remove the barriers to taking up quality work.
Speaking before the Minister for Social Protection’s pre-budget forum EAPN Ireland Director Robin Hanan said:
“Decisions on welfare and taxation in the forthcoming budget will have a decisive impact on the lives of people struggling to make ends meet and on the shape of Irish society long into the future.
“Five years into the current crisis, while the Government has emphasised the importance of protecting the most vulnerable, the situation for individuals and families experiencing poverty has worsened. Unemployment remains stubbornly high with 434,700 people on the live register. By the end of 2010, the numbers in consistent poverty had grown to 277,000, from 186,000 in 2008 and over 17% of all those in poverty were working.
“Inequality between those on higher and lower incomes has grown. The overall impact of Budget 2012 has been regressive, mainly favouring those on higher incomes.
“We call on the Government to ensure that all measures in the forthcoming Budget are fully assessed for their impact on poverty before decisions are made, in line with stated Government and EU policy.
“EAPN Ireland also supports calls for investment, particularly social investment, as a way to boost growth, job creation and economic activity.“
EAPN Ireland Policy Officer Paul Ginnell introduced the network’s proposals for the 2013 Budget:
“EAPN Ireland supports the balanced approach agreed at EU level which involves access to a decent income, to quality services and to quality jobs and training opportunities”.
“Our pre-budget submission is presented in support of this integrated approach, while also proposing measures to ensure it is adequately resourced”.
EAPN Ireland’s twelve proposals to the Minister include
- Ensuring that welfare supports are adequate to lift people out of poverty;
- Only proceeding with Department of Social Protection proposals for a single welfare payment with common criteria for all people aged16-64 if services, supports and work opportunities are in place;
- Addressing in-work poverty by changing the criteria for access to jobseekers’ payments and other welfare supports;
- Adequately resourcing the Pathways to Work Strategy on employment services and supports;
- Linking the level of investment in services to their social return, particularly to disadvantaged communities and groups;
- Carrying out full poverty impact assessment before any particular services are reduced in the Budget; and
- Increasing the overall tax take to closer to EU average levels in a progressive way.
The EAPN Ireland pre-budget submission is attached
Enquiries: Paul Ginnell (number removed); Robin Hanan (number removed)