Budget 2014 will effect the least well off in our Society-Cllr. Peter Ormond

Cllr. Peter Ormond has stated that the less well off in our society were hit hardest in last weeks budget. There has been a €2.5billion adjustment to the budget and certainly the effect of that adjustment is clearly effecting those who can least afford it.

Cllr. Ormond welcomed certain aspects of the budget such as the 9% retention on the Vat rate for tourism providers and the income taxed credit for home owners who carry out renovations on their homes and the exemption from income tax for new start-ups for the unemployed who earn up to a maximum profit of 40,000 per annum.

However, the people with no lobby groups and voices at the top table were hit with the hardest measures. Our young people and our elderly were hit particularly hard last week. Our elderly who have done so much for our country over the years have been particularly singled out. The removal of the household packages was an important package to so many people, particularly people living on their own. There is also the introduction of cap on tax relief for medical insurance premiums which will have the greatest impact on the elderly. This will result in increase in premiums for many people. These changes combined with the increase for prescription charges for medical cards will place greater hardship on our older population. If we take the introduction of cap on tax relief for medical insurance companies €94m, medical card review €113m, increase in prescription charges €43m, abolition of telephone allowances €44m, this is evidence enough of the hardship being forced on our elderly. Its easy do the figures.

When examining the budget and trying to find the savings, the one figure that stands out is in the health budget. The health Minister now has a job to find €666 million in savings in 2014. We only heard last week that there is likely to be an over run of €150 million in the health service this year. We already know that with the changes in discretionary medical cards there is a savings of €113 million and the question needs to asked where is the other €550 million going to come from. I hope and I urge the Minister not to reduce the budgets in our homecare packages and to deliver a budget cut of this size is simply not possible without reducing the current level of service. I understand that a new service plan for the HSE has to be drawn up based on these cuts and I hope the people who need the practical services are afforded these services. While I welcome the introduction of free GP Care for Under 5’s, it is hard to believe with the changes in the discretionary medical cards, that children over 5 years with illnesses and special needs will not qualify for a medical card. 

The other area that stands out is the reduced social welfare payments for people until they reach the age of 26. While I appreciate that we don’t want people coming out of school and receiving social welfare payments, we don't want to create a situation whereby we have people who have a primary degree, a masters degree living on €100 per week until they reach 26 years. We want these people working in our communities and contributing to the economy. However most young people are find employment difficult to find and this cut to social welfare will undoubtedly lead to an increase in emigration among our young people.