CORI: Welfare increases behind schedule
The Government must honour the commitments to the poor and vulnerable made in the national pay agreement, a major church group said today.
The Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) Justice Commission said increases in social welfare payments and child benefit were still behind schedule.
“The Sustaining Progress agreement was a modest one but the jury is still out on whether the Government is going to honour its commitments,” said CORI director Fr Sean Healy.
The review of the three year Sustaining Progress agreement is due to be published in two week’s time, after wage increases were agreed between employers and unions.
CORI is one of the 15 community and voluntary organisations which signed up to the agreement last year. It has submitted a checklist on what needs to be implemented in the remaining 18 months.
Fr Healy said it was critically important the agreement delivered the increases in social welfare laid down by the National Anti-Poverty Strategy.
“The target is to raise the lowest level of social welfare, €134.80, to 30% of the industrial wage. That is a rise of €14 a week in 2005, €16 a week in 2006 and €17.90 a week in 2007.”
Around 60% of people on social welfare are not in the labour market because they are elderly, ill, disabled or caring for a relative.
“That is why increased welfare rates are completely essential to tackle poverty. The old notion about a job solving poverty is no longer applicable,” said Fr Healy.
He said there was also a problem with low pay, when 18% of households in poverty were headed by someone with a job compared to 8% 10 years ago.
The Labour Court will review the national minimum wage of €7 per hour next year under the Sustaining Progress agreement.
Fr Healy said there was also a need to increase the funding for social housing and for community and voluntary organisations who have been deprived of staff due to cutbacks in the Community Employment Scheme.
“The services they are providing – such as meals on wheels – are very useful, very efficiently delivered and very cost-effective. There must be a recognition that these organisations need funding to make up for the shortfall.”
CORI will also press for increases in child benefit to tackle poverty among 250,000 children.
Under Sustaining Progress, the Government has drawn up action plans on 10 key areas, including educational disadvantage, unemployment and drugs and alcohol abuse. Fr Healy said good progress had been made on these plans.
