One-off payments are no vehicle for real change - Harkin

“The number of one-off payments in the budget is an indication of a failure to institute real and lasting change,” Sligo Leitrim TD Marian Harkin said in reaction to Budget 2024. “They are like lights on the Christmas tree, when you switch them off you are back to the darkness."

Ms Harkin pointed out that a total of €2.5bn was allocated for one-off measures, “While every euro is more than welcome, ultimately, spending money like this does little to address the underlying causes of poverty, it simply papers over the cracks. These standalone measures are a ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ type of payment that vanish soon after they are paid out leaving nothing in their wake.  As a result, every year, People with Disabilities, carers, pensioners and other vulnerable groups have to start their planning, their budgeting and their struggles from ground zero,” she said

“These lump sums and one-off measures are headline grabbers designed for Budget Day, but they actually leave people worse off because social welfare increases have simply not kept pace with inflation,” Deputy Harkin continued, “Age Action Ireland in their reaction to the €12 increase for pensioners tell us, that in order to give pensioners the same spending power as they had in 2020 a further €19 should have been added to the €12 announced today.

“We have the utter disappointment of People with Disabilities who see the cost-of-disability payment of €500, which was acknowledged and introduced for the first time in Budget 2023, not continued, marking an absolute turnaround for those who hoped we were starting to deal with the real cost of disability.

“One-off payments are the opposite of building blocks necessary for real, consolidated change, they are flimsy facades designed to make an impression rather than make a difference.”