Fine Gael’s Social Protection Minister, Heather Humphreys, has come under scrutiny from both the Green Party and Fianna Fáil following suggestions she may prioritise boosting state pensions over jobseekers allowance in the 2025 budget. Heather Humphreys plans to propose a €15 increase to state pensions for the Budget 2025, scheduled to be announced on 1 October, a move that’ll also benefit groups like carers and the disabled. Despite this, she’s not expected to endorse a comparable increase for jobseekers’ allowance.
This apparent preference has drawn criticism as it’s doubtful that the other two Coalition parties will approve such a stark divide between pensions and other social benefits. In their conference last April, Fianna Fáil had campaigned for various welfare augmentations, which included a €12 boost to the elderly pension scheme, a €10 hike in child benefits, and similar enhancements to other social welfare measures.
With jobseekers grappling with inflation despite its recent decline and living on fixed income, a source from Fianna Fáil voiced concerns on Sunday. Concurrently, Green Party whip, Marc Ó Cathasaigh, expressed strong disapproval on Twitter, insisting it’s wrong to position pensioners as more deserving than jobseekers.
On a related note, Sinn Féin announced a key aspect of their alternative budget slated for publication this week is a suggestion to eliminate Universal Social Charge for average wage earners. This measure, as per their finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty, would put more than €1100 back into ordinary workers’ pockets, exempt over two million workers from the USC, helping all workers, and remove a remnant of Fianna Fáil’s past economic blunders. On top of this, Sinn Féin aims to exempt the first €45,000 of every worker’s income, beginning with the first €30,000 in 2025, if they hold power.