'Feast for one week and famine for other 51': Parts of cost-of-living package welcomed but others not 'near enough'

THE head of one of Cork’s oldest charities has warned that longer-term solutions are needed to ease the hardship of those who are struggling to make ends meet.

Cork Penny Dinners’ volunteer co-ordinator Caitríona Twomey was speaking yesterday after the announcement of a new cost-of-living package, which features €1.2bn of measures.

Included in the package is a €200 payment for working families on low incomes, a €200 lump sum for pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, widows, and lone parents in April; a €100 sum for child benefit recipients in June; and €100 extra added to the school clothing and footwear allowance.

Speaking to The Echo, Ms Twomey said she believes the measures “don’t go anywhere near enough” to have a significant impact.

“It’s like you get a puncture and you do a fast job on the puncture, but you know that it’s going to go, that you have to replace the wheel,” she said.

“In order to have a real impact on the cost of living, they [the Government] have to be sustaining people on a weekly basis, and they’re not doing that… there’s no point in giving people a feast one week and having a famine for the other 51 weeks of the year.”

This sentiment was echoed by Barnardos CEO, Suzanne Connolly, who said that while the measures will go some way to help families struggling to meet essential costs, “longer-term sustainable changes” are required.

“The measures we particularly welcome include the €200 for lone parent families and the additional €100 for Back to School Allowance increase.

“They will relieve some financial pressures from families at risk of poverty.

“Additionally, the announcement to further expand the hot school meals is positive and will ensure more children get a decent meal every day.

“Going forward, with the establishment of the Child Poverty and Wellbeing Unit the Government needs to look to be more ambitious and ensure that conditions exist where families can provide their children with a decent standard of living, this means avoiding once off measures and instead looking towards longer-term sustainable changes,” she said.

Meanwhile, well-known advocate for the elderly, Paddy O’Brien, said the €200 lump sum for pensioners was welcome and would be “appreciated” by elderly people.

However, he said it was “regrettable” that this payment would not be made until April and called for it to be expedited.

As part of the measures announced yesterday, the reduced VAT rate of nine percent on electricity and gas costs is being extended until the end of October, which the Government said would be of “universal benefit” to people.

Excise on petrol, diesel and green diesel, which was to go up at the end of February, will instead increase on a phased basis between June and the end of October.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said this further intervention, after a cost-of-living package of €4.1bn announced in September as part of the budget, aimed to help families and businesses to get through the spring and summer.

“It is more targeted than previously, but there are universal measures as well,” he said.

“There won’t be energy credits over the summer period, but we do have the option in the next budget of restoring energy credits to help people with their winter electricity bills.

“But that will depend on whether or not electricity prices come down between now and then,” the Taoiseach added.

Speaking before Cabinet, ministers suggested that the measures were appropriate, but added that there was enough financial “firepower” left for later in the year when they expect further will be needed.

Finance Minister Michael McGrath said that deciding on the measures was a “fine balancing act”.

He said: “It is a matter of judgment. These are not easy calls to make. We recognise that people are under pressure, we have sought to target resources in the best way that we possibly can.

“But we are significantly easing the ending of the various tax measures because we recognise the impact on people’s bills, on the costs at the pumps and forecourts would be really, really onerous if the Government did not step in and provide more money.

“I think it’s really important to underline that point, the Government has to provide more money to extend these measures.”

Mr McGrath said “the key consideration” was to allow inflation to continue to fall.

He said: “It is falling, thankfully, and we want to help that, not push it back up again.”

The minister added: “There will almost certainly be challenges down the line, particularly for later this year.

“It’s important that we have that firepower. By acting prudently now, the Government will be in a position to help people more when we believe the need will be greater.”

However, the announcements were criticized by the opposition, with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald saying it “beggars belief” that the plan did not address soaring rents in Ireland.

During leaders’ questions in the Dail, Ms McDonald said: “For the life of me I can’t understand how the three men leading government, after two months in talks, could produce a package that is silent on housing.”

But Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government had responded “dynamically” to help people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.