INOU: No cuts in welfare payments
The National Executive Committee of the INOU have refuted calls for cuts to social welfare payments in next Tuesday’s emergency Budget.
The committee said that unemployed people in Local Authority accommodation are facing rent increases, so any decrease in social welfare payments will be a "double whammy".
Also, the committee said, unemployed people in private rented accommodation in receipt of Rent Supplement are not enjoying rent decreases that others have successfully negotiated.
"What many commentators in the media and the financial services sector do not appreciate is that for many unemployed people managing poverty is a daily reality," said Ann Fergus, Chairperson of the INOU.
"Shopping around for either cheaper food or cheaper accommodation is often not feasible when a social welfare payment is your only source of income."
The INOU is calling on the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the HSE to guarantee that there will be no reductions in a person’s Rent Supplement payment unless it is shown that the recipient has enjoyed a decrease in their rent.
