Major issues facing people in Ireland including housing, childcare, child poverty and disability services have not been addressed in Budget 2024 according to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns.
“Instead, what we've seen is kind of a bit for everyone, kind of more of the same and not a real meaningful approach. It's kind of a sticking plaster to cover up our eroding services and the absence of investment in core financial services and financial supports for people who really desperately need them,” she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
Ms Cairns said she had been “gobsmacked” at the absence of any kind of meaningful approach to really address child poverty despite a unit being set up within the Taoiseach’s office.
She said she thought it was a typo when she saw the €64million allocation to disability services given the department’s own review which had said it required €350million.
“There's nothing to indicate any kind of a change in the approach to housing, to make housing more affordable and therefore more social affordable homes. The list goes on. It's kind of a bit for everyone, not enough to make a difference and a little bit more for people who need it less.”
"The Budget could have gone further in addressing childcare costs, she said. Fathers were not taking up paternity leave, not because they did not want to spend time with their babies, but because they could not afford to do so because of rising energy costs and childcare costs.
“It's about giving parents a choice because some people want to spend more time at home with their children. Some people want a reduction in childcare costs. And I think we have to empower people to make their own decisions in relation to that. And a lot more could be done.”
