Funding will be sought in the budget to complete the roll-out of hot meals for all primary school children, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has said.
Around 2,000 schools are currently approved to provide the meals and Ms Humphreys is to seek funding to expand the scheme to some 1,000 more next year.
Her remarks came at a press conference in advance of the Department of Social Protection’s annual pre-budget forum on Thursday, which involves hearing submissions from non-governmental organisations, unions and business groups.
Ms Humphreys has sought expressions of interest from the 1,000 schools that are not yet part of the hot school meals programme.
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Last year’s budget saw her department secure €1.2 billion in cost-of-living lumps sum supports including disability and carer’s support grants, a double child benefits and the Christmas bonus for welfare recipients.
Ms Humphreys would not be drawn on whether she would be able to match that in the October’s budget but said she would “always be ambitious in my ask”.
She said her focus will be on helping people with disabilities, carers, working families and pensioners, but added that “we’re in a different time” with inflation having “dropped considerably”.
In advance of the pre-budget forum, Social Justice Ireland called for a €25 increase to core social welfare rates. Ms Humphreys said she would listen to all of the stakeholders before sitting down with Minister for Finance Jack Chambers, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe and her Government colleagues.
“And once again, we will put together a package that focuses on the most vulnerable”.
Asked if welfare rates would go up by at least the €12 seen in the last two years Ms Humphreys reiterated that she will sit down with Government partners and “I’ll put together a good package that supports people who need it.”
Meanwhile, Mr Chambers and Mr Donohoe have rejected criticism from the State’s fiscal watchdog of the Government’s Summer Economic Statement.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) said on Wednesday that the Government was adopting an “everything now” approach and risked overheating the economy by breaking its own rules on spending increases.
The statement proposed an €8.3 billion budget package, including a €6.9 billion increase in public spending and €1.4 billion in tax measures, which corresponds to an annual increase of 6.9 per cent, significantly above the Government’s own 5 per cent spending rule.
Mr Chambers said sticking to the 5 per cent mark would present risks in terms of maintaining services areas such as health, social protection and childcare.
“IFAC has its perspective on fiscal and budgetary matters … but we have to take into account the wider needs in the context of public services and particularly sustaining the existing levels of service we see across our public sector,” he said, adding that there was a “narrow scope” for new measures in the budget.
Mr Donohoe said he and Mr Chambers had been told at the Budgetary Oversight Committee on Wednesday evening that they were not spending enough. He pointed to two long-dated funds for future investment which would have €6 billion added to them this year.
He said “that €6 billion is nearly the same amount as all the new spending we are announcing”, which was proof the Government is not trying to do everything at once.
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