Budget 2025: A Temporary Fix to a Deepening Crisis
The government’s Budget 2025 includes a cost-of-living package that offers a series of one-off payments aimed at providing immediate relief. However, despite these temporary supports, there’s little in the budget to address the ongoing financial pressures facing families and vulnerable individuals as living costs continue to spiral. The measures, while helpful in the short term, ignore the core issue of rising inflation, energy costs, and the unaffordability that grips so many households. Budget 2025 Cost of Living Package
One-Off Cost of Living Supports
- €250 electricity credits (2 x €125): Payments to be split, one before Christmas 2024 and the other in early 2025.
- €300 Fuel Allowance lump sum: A single payment for those already in receipt of the Fuel Allowance to be made during Winter 2024.
- €200 Living Alone Allowance lump sum: Paid to recipients in Winter 2024.
- Double month Child Benefit: Families will receive double payments of Child Benefit during Winter 2024.
- €400 Working Family Payment lump sum: A one-time payment in November 2024 for those receiving the Working Family Payment.
- €100 Qualified Child Increment lump sum: Issued in Winter 2024 to help families with dependent children.
- Double week for all long-term weekly welfare schemes: To be provided this month and again in December 2024 for those relying on long-term social welfare payments.
- €400 lump sum to selected welfare categories: Including those on Carer’s Support Grant, Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Invalidity Pension, and Domiciliary Care Allowance to be paid in November 2024.
- Double payment of Foster Care Allowance: Foster carers will receive double payments in Winter 2024.
Shortcomings of the Budget
Despite these one-off measures, families and individuals will continue to face financial strain due to the absence of long-term solutions:
- Means Testing for Carers and Exclusions: The government continues to means-test carers, leaving many of them unable to access adequate support. These individuals, who provide essential care to family members, face significant financial challenges, and the budget does nothing to ease their burden.
- Working Family Payment and Fuel Allowance: While those on the Working Family Payment will receive a €400 bonus, they remain excluded from the Fuel Allowance scheme, despite facing the same rising energy costs as others. This gap highlights the government’s narrow approach to supporting working families.
- Energy and Fuel Supports Fall Short: The €250 electricity credit and €300 Fuel Allowance lump sum will only provide temporary relief. With energy prices continuing to rise, these payments are unlikely to cover the cost of heating homes and paying utility bills through the winter months.
- Double Child Benefit Payment: Although double Child Benefit payments will help families during the holiday season, they offer no relief beyond the short term. The growing costs of childcare, education, and other essential services continue to stretch family budgets to the limit.
Conclusion
While the one-off cost-of-living measures in Budget 2025 provide some relief, they are a temporary fix for what is becoming a long-term crisis. The exclusion of working families from key supports like the Fuel Allowance and the continued means testing of carers raise significant concerns about the budget’s effectiveness. The government’s reliance on one-time payments fails to address the structural issues that continue to drive up living costs. For many, the question remains: what happens when these supports run out, and the relentless rise in costs continues unchecked?
Budget 2025 Cost of Living Package
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