Social welfare reaction:Advocacy groups have reacted negatively to Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan's decision to cut certain welfare payments, but they have welcomed his decision not to cut the State pension.
Housing body Threshold welcomed the decision not to cut the rent supplement payment any further in today’s Budget.
But it said the cut in jobseekers' allowance for under-24s would put people at risk of homelessness.
Threshold chair Aideen Hayden said:“By cutting jobseeker’s allowance to a paltry level for young people, the Government is basically asking them to return to their parents’ home to live. This is unrealistic for most and will put many young people at a real risk of homelessness.”
She said job losses among those in their early 20s had been “extremely high”, especially among young males.
Focus Ireland said the Budget was a “hammer blow” to the most marginalised in society and that it would put more people at risk of losing their homes.
Focus Ireland chief executive Joyce Loughnan said: “We fully accept that tough decisions have to be taken to get the economy back on its feet again, but the cuts to welfare and public sector pay are very shortsighted. The social housing and supports budget is being cut by a massive 27 per cent.
“At a time when homelessness and housing need are so high, this decision simply makes no sense.”
She said the decision to cut basic social welfare rates by 4.1 per cent was “a betrayal of the Government’s commitment to protect the most vulnerable”.
“This cutback will reduce the weekly income of a single person by €8 per week and a family with two children by €17.”
The National Women's Council of Ireland said mothers on social welfare or working for low pay would bear the brunt of the cuts. "Child benefit is a crucial part of family income - many women will be left wondering if they can afford to continue to work, given that childcare costs continue to rise. Women are also predominantly employed in lower paid public service jobs and are facing further pay cuts," said NWCI director Susan McKay.
Ms McKay said the full impact of cuts would not be evident for some time and that the group was "extremely concerned" about the future of many of its member groups, especially community based women's groups which provide essential services and supports for women and families.
The Rehab Group expressed concern about the “significant” cut of €8.30 per week in the disability allowance.
chief executive Angela Kerins said cutting social welfare for people with disabilities was “a massive step backwards”.
“In general, people in receipt of disability allowance spend that money on necessities, not luxuries. This cut of €8.30 per week will affect the ability of the nearly 96,000 people on disability allowance to buy basic necessities such as food and clothing.”
Ms Kerins welcomed the decision not to cut the old-age pension.
The Carers' Association expressed considerable relief that the half-rate carers allowance will still be available to new applicants. The allowance will be cut from €220 to €212 a year, a cut of just over 4 per cent.
The association’s chief executive, Enda Egan, said the cuts were a setback to carers’ who were already struggling because of the rising costs of care.
However, he said the decision to keep the half-rate carers’ allowance for new applicants was welcome as it would prevent the rise of a two-tier system with some carers getting it and some not getting it.
“The Government seems to have taken on board for the moment that carers are a valuable resource. The half-rate carers’ allowance was a very important initiative that was put in place by a very good minister Seamus Brennan,” he said.
Children’s Rights Alliance chief executive Jillian van Turnhout said the cuts would be an accumulative weight on children, young people and their families, "from which they - and our society - may take years to recover”.
“There can be no more difficult a choice than that now forced upon parents today - with a 10 per cent drop in child benefit and the introduction of 50 cent prescription charges, among other costs - to choose whether they heat their house, put food on the table or buy medicine.
“Moreover, young unemployed people have had their jobseekers’ allowance slashed - again the young are being asked to pay a higher price. Young families who nurture the future of this country have been left adrift.”
The alliance is a coalition of over 90 non-governmental organisations working to secure children’s rights.
Frances Byrne, director of the One Parent Exchange and Network, the organisation representing 80 single parent organisations, said lone parents and their children had “effectively been left out in the cold” as a result of Budget cutbacks.
"While welcoming the fact that we have been told poor families will be compensated for the decrease in child benefit, we are unclear as to how and when that will be happen, "she said. "We would like the Government to remember that poor children do not exist in isolation...they grow up in poor households, with poor parents”.
Age Action said it was relieved the State pension was protected but said the new prescription charge would “hit the sickest and poorest”.
“The majority of people have medical cards because they are either on low incomes or have very high medical costs because they are very sick,” said Age Action spokesman Eamon Timmins.
“To charge them on a per-item basis is to penalise them for being ill and poor.”
Age Action welcomed the deferral of the carbon tax for home heating oil and gas until May.
But it said the revenue generated from the carbon tax in the meantime must be ring-fenced and used to fund a targeted home-insulation programme aimed at the homes of the most vulnerable in society.