Significant measures to tackle poverty as part of a new national partnership deal will be demanded by social and voluntary groups in negotiations this week.
Groups in the community and voluntary pillar say a deal will be harder to achieve because of the Budget, which "undermined confidence" in the partnership process.
The pillar is one of the social partners in talks on a successor to the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. It will hold a meeting with the Government later this week and has asked that the implications of the Budget be at the top of the agenda. Farm bodies, unions and employers, as well as the Government, make up the remaining partnership pillars.
Yesterday, a number of groups in the community and voluntary sector strongly criticised the Budget and said the Government had reneged on commitments to tackle poverty and social exclusion.
Father Sean Healy of the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) Justice Commission said examples of the Government's failure to honour commitments could be seen in social welfare, housing, community employment, child benefit and medical cards.
CORI published an analysis yesterday that suggested the lowest social welfare rate would have to increase by €18.70 a week in each of the next four Budgets to meet its commitment in the national anti-poverty strategy. Yet the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, had suggested at the weekend that the next several Budgets would be similar to this one, said Father Healy.
In that Budget those on the lowest social welfare rates were given an increase of €6 a week. This, said Father Healy, was €0.30 a week above inflation.
Mr Dónall Geoghegan, of the National Youth Council, said the Government's "inaction" in implementing commitments on poverty had "opened up a serious credibility gap in the negotiations.
"The Government must address these commitments adequately before the talks can seriously advance on the content of a new national programme to replace the PPF," he said.
