I blame Cadburys. OK, maybe that’s jumping the gun a bit; but you have to admit that reintroducing 80s favourite Wispa to the market just as the economy decided to go a bit AWOL was a strange coincidence.
Anyway, what did you think? Were you impressed with the two Brians’ approach to the Budget?
Listening to the Budget in the office on Tuesday there was still a certain sense of shock. And the influx of emails the next morning from concerned parties reminded us all that it’s not just our incomes that will be affected, but the lives a lot of people who are already finding things in this country hard.
One of the loudest voices of disdain has come from educational organisations. According to the Irish Vocational Education Authority, “The scatter-gun approach to cuts in staffing, services and funding in the education sector means that all aspects of educational provision have been affected, with the welcome exception of capital allocation.”
The Unions of Students in Ireland has also expressed worry that the increase of registration fees is the first step towards reintroducing third level fees. Registration fees are being increased by 67 per cent to €1,500; this “represents a crude and cynical attempt by Minister O’ Keeffe to raise revenue for the State coffers at the expense of students and their families,” says the USI.
In response, Minister O’Keefe said, “I know there will be disappointment and, indeed anger, at some of the measures announced. I am asking for cooperation from all the education partners to support our system in these difficult times. We must all play our part in implementing the necessary adjustments to the public finances to avoid an even more difficult situation in future years.”
So we all need to take one for the team it seems. I guess that’s a fair enough point; even the President is taking a 10 per cent pay cut along with Ministers. Must be hard, ya know cutting 10 per cent from her €300,000! Especially when you consider that a lot of people out there don’t even make 10 per cent of her salary a year.
Obviously the over 70s are unsettled by the means testing of the medical card for them, and who can blame them? If I make it to 70, I want a medical card. And the €7 increase in the pension isn’t worth anything, and is not going to compensate for the loss of the medical card or inflation or soaring fuel costs either.
But when the dust settles, a lot of us won’t miss the extra money disappearing from our wages, or being added on to our shopping bills. Unfortunately for certain people in the country - those who have nothing to start with, those who have never known the Celtic Tiger - it’s going to be a harsh winter.
The Combat Poverty Agency has said it fears for progress on anti-poverty targets, following the Budget announcement. The Government target of eliminating consistent poverty by 2016 is undermined by many of the Budget measures, according to the agency.
Kevin O’Kelly, acting director of Combat Poverty, said “Budget 2009 fails to protect the most vulnerable in society and will impact negatively on low-income households. The increase in welfare rates of 3.3 per cent is not enough to help low-income households meet the rising costs associated with inflation”. Even if they got Eddie Hobbs in to live with them for a week, low-income families are not going to be able to live comfortably.
Mr O’Kelly also said, “The income levy will hit the working poor the hardest, CSO statistics show that nearly 10 per cent of people living in consistent poverty are actually in employment. This means that people living in poverty on an ongoing basis will be subject to this levy.”
Whether or not we wanted to believe it before, it’s now clear that hard times are ahead. It looks like Wispas aren’t the only thing making a comeback from the 80s!
Maria Daly, Editor [email protected]
