Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has indicated that there will be a further once off social welfare payment for “vulnerable” groups but that it won’t be as large as previous measures.
inister Humphreys said any further payment will be “considerably less” than previous cost of living interventions that were introduced before Christmas.
She was speaking ahead of further talks on the issue tomorrow amongst coalition leaders.
“My priority is older people, people with disabilities, carers and of course working families with children,” she told RTÉ.
“We did have a very comprehensive package of measures for Budget 2023. And I want to be honest, I want to be straight with people, that the scale of these measures will be considerably less.
“But, having said that, we will be able to give that helping hand to those that need it most.”
It is expected that the cost-of-living measures will be signed off on Tuesday by the full Cabinet.
The manager of the Family Resource Centre in Portlaoise said people are struggling with their food and energy bills.
Joan Bolger said: “For people coming in at the moment, it doesn’t matter if their income is social welfare or it’s a job that they’re working in and they have a wage, it’s not enough to meet everything at the moment,” she told RTÉ’s This Week programme.
“Parents are really concerned about how do they pay their rent, they might be behind on their rent, people coming in with ESB bills that have not been paid for a couple of months because putting food on the table is the main thing.
“I don’t think there’s one measure that they can put in place that will actually make a difference, it’s really the cost of heating, electricity, any form of fuel, that definitely needs to be looked at and food prices.
“I think food certainly has to be looked at.”
