‘Poor hit three times harder than rich’ in Budget 2020
FINE Gael’s Budget is set to hit the poor three times harder than the rich, it has been claimed.
Detailed analysis from the Economic and Social Research Institute said it will see poorer households face a 3% hike in their cost of living next year.
But the ESRI number crunchers did find the Government will be spending more on public services next year, such as extra Garda services with 700 more officers recruited next year.
Labour’s Joan Burton said the research is proof that Budget 2020 is a regressive one.
And Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall added it shows Fine Gael don’t care about the poor.
Karina Doorley from the ESRI said: “While the overall fiscal stance of Budget 2020 is prudent, freezing most tax thresholds and benefit rates in cash terms will leave household incomes lower than under a neutral Budget. However, spending on policies such as the National Childcare Scheme should partly offset this for lowincome households.”
Ms Burton added: “The publication by the ESRI of their analysis of Budget 2020 confirms what was said by the Labour Party on Budget day – that this Budget is regressive.
“It also highlights a potential issue with the figures presented by the Finance Minister due to his reliance on compliance measures for €175million of revenue which are ‘inherently uncertain’ and ‘difficult’.
“What this means is it could lead to a large hole in his Budget that will mean services are being funded from uncertain revenue and that this isn’t prudent.
“The findings of the ESRI confirm that the Budget hits people on lower incomes – pensioners on State pensions, carers, people on disability – particularly hard because their income broadly stays the same next year while people at work will see likely increases in their wages of somewhere between 3% and 4.5% depending on how well the economy does.”