Sept-Oct '26: Social Justice Newsletter
Welcome to the Social Justice Team Newsletter - Sept/Oct 2026
We are delighted to bring you this month's edition, which is also available on the SVP website. We hope that you find it useful and helpful.
In this issue
Introduction
We hope this newsletter finds you well. With staff changes, Budget 2027 and an Energy Summit in Brussels it's been a busy couple of weeks. It's a very packed newsletter, we hope it gives you insights and information that is useful, if you have any feedback our email address is at the bottom.
Staff Changes
We want to thank Hannah Boylan for her time in the team over the past couple of months as she returns to her role in MESL. While we say goodbye, we also get to say welcome back to Issy Petrie! Issy returns to us from maternity leave and we’re delighted to have her back in the team. We’ve created a chart to show the areas which each member of the team is now responsible for.
Social Justice Area of Focus
Our policy priorities reflect the support people seek from SVP and the issues that drive poverty. Click here to meet the team and who holds each brief.
Budget 2027 - Poverty is not inevitable; it's born from policy
This is the first budget introduced since the government published its anti-poverty strategy, The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2026-2030. It was the first test to see if the strategy’s ambitions were reflected in Budget 2027. While a €10 increase in core social welfare payments is welcome, increases that merely keep pace with inflation protect purchasing power rather than provide the additional income needed to move people out of poverty.
We know that older people living alone, one parent families and people with a disability experience higher rates of poverty and deprivation and therefore an anti-poverty strategy would need to target measures at these groups. The targeted measures for this group included the following;
- Older People Living Alone - €3 increase in the Living Alone Allowance
- One Parent Families - €10 increase in the income disregard for working lone parents.
- People with a disability - €500 payment in 2027, while ongoing work will continue to co-design a new payment in 2028.
We are concerned these measures do not meaningfully address the rising poverty in these populations.
One of our major areas of concerns is energy poverty, especially as fuel costs continue to rise. The CRU’s (Commission for the Regulation of Utilities) most recent figures indicate that there are 328,000 households in arrears on their electricity bill and 188,000 with their gas bill. These are the figures before we enter the Winter period.
Budget 2027 announced a €5 weekly increase in the fuel allowance; however, it did not retain the 4-week extension of the fuel period introduced earlier in March as an emergency measure. This means despite all suppliers increasing their costs, recipients of the fuel allowance will receive €1,204 in 2027, compared to €1,216 in 2026.
Click here to get a fuller picture on the recommendations you are interested in.
Speaking Up
Budget 2027
On Tues 1st Oct, Louise joined Cormac O’hEadhra in studio for the Late Debate on RTE radio one to discuss Budget 2027. You can listen back here.
Within hours of Budget 2027 we shared our response to the media, ‘SVP says Budget 2027 not making meaningful progress on poverty reduction’ you’ll find it here - many thanks to Walsh PR and our internal Comms team for their support on the day.
Nessan Vaughan, Chair of the Social Justice Committee, appeared on Virgin Media Ireland AM. Nessan gives his input at 01:01:48 - click here. RTÉ Six One – Louise Bayliss shares the 3 groups she was most concerned about prior to the Budget announcements; Louise and other support organisations' piece begins at 9 min 50 sec in the video here. Virgin Media the Tonight Show – Louise gives her response to the announcements, at 00:35 here.
On Thur 8th Oct, Allison gave an interview on Cork’s 103FM this morning, listen here (31 minutes in).
The Irish Independent published an article on the disability policy announced on Budget Day ‘More than 200,000 people to get first €500 payment to cover hidden cost of disability, but advocacy groups say measure falls short’ can be read here.
On Wed 14th Oct, Louise was included in an article in the Irish Examiner on how Budget 2027 has fallen short for mothers and women. 'A tenner for your troubles — mothers get the short straw yet again in the budget' read here.
Education - Cost of college
‘SVP supports over 2,000 students beginning third level studies with €3m’ spend The Irish Times and The Sun covered our cost of going to college press release.
Policy in Focus
Hannah Boylan created a policy position document on the development and changes for Assessment of Need for Children. For membership there is advice and information on the response of the Assessment of Need requests for assistance on the membership website.
Behind The Scenes
Chaired by Governor Gabriel Makhlouf and hosted by Colm Kincid from the Central Bank along with our peers from civil society we participated in our second annual Civil Society Round Table.
We heard from the Central Bank about their community engagement work, as they heading out into communities around Ireland to meet the people and organisations who made community in Ireland matter. We had, presentations from civil society and presentations from the central bank on economic outlook, mortgage measures and customer experience. The full agenda and presentations can be read here.
Education:
We were invited to attend Delivering on a Child's Right to Education - Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) School Attendance Summit 2026. The Opening Speech, was delivered by Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD and Keynote address from Professor Aoife Nolan. Each presentation was recorded, all of which can be watched here.
ESRI School Attendance Event:
We attended the launch of ESRI research that uses the Growing Up in Ireland data, to track patterns of absence for 9 to 13 years of age school age pupils. "School absence has increased since the pandemic, especially among young people with socio-emotional difficulties and those who do not like school." You can read more on this interesting research here.
DEIS Strategy – Creating a framework of evaluation:
The ESRI have been commissioned by the Department of Education and Youth to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for DEIS and DEIS Plus Strategy. Education and Youth (DEY) on developing a monitoring and evaluation framework for Delivering Equality of Opportunity (DEIS) schools. We attended insights into how to measure the impact and outcomes of the DEIS strategies and await to review the framework.
Energy:
Joint meeting between the CRU's CSG group and energy suppliers.
Following a successful meeting in 2025, last month we again hosted an in-person meeting between members of the CRU’s (energy regulator) Consumer Stakeholder Group and energy suppliers. Chaired and facilitated by the CRU, there were presentations from suppliers, MABS, ourselves in the Social Justice Team, and the MESL Research Team at SVP on topics such as repayment arrangements for people in arrears, accessibility and inclusivity (amongst others). This was a very constructive session which gave all attendees a chance to learn from one another how we can better support people who struggle in the energy market. We look forward to hosting another joint meeting in the near future.
Energy Poverty meeting with Minister Darragh O'Brien:
Ahead of Budget 2027 we met with Minister Darragh O’Brien, alongside other civil society organisations, to discuss the needs of people in energy poverty. With representatives from Friends of the Earth, Age Action, Social Justice Ireland, and the National Women’s Council, we discussed the immediate difficulties being caused by high prices and the need for robust social protections, including targeted financial assistance and help transitioning to affordable, low carbon energy. We thank the Minister for his engagement at the meeting and look forward to continuing the collaboration.
EU energy conference in Brussels:
We attended the Citizens Energy Forum in Brussels with support from the European Anti-Poverty Network. The Forum addressed EU actions on affordable energy and the ‘just transition’. Our contributions focused on the Irish experience of energy poverty and we highlighted the continued need for income supports, challenges low-income households face accessing energy efficiency measures, and the need for strong consumer protections on energy. We also had many constructive conversations with Irish and European attendees on potential solutions and attempts being made across Europe, including local initiatives and state supports. We thank EAPN Ireland for this opportunity.
Child Poverty - End Child Poverty Week 2026:
We attended many events on the 5th End Child Poverty Week hosted by Children's Rights Alliance (CRA).
On Wed 2nd Sept, we attended a conference on the importance of a children's rights budget that we comply with legal obligation, under our national constitution and international law. The government are legally obliged to ensure that Budget 2027 delivers the best outcomes for children, particularly those experiencing poverty.
On Thur 3rd Sept, the Child Poverty and Well-being unit in the Department of the Taoiseach hosted the Child Poverty Summit in Axis and Ballymun. Louise and Allison attended. The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and 5 government ministers spoke at the event and emphasised the importance of reducing child poverty.
On Mon 7th Sept, Louise was a panellist at an event to discuss children in the International Protection system. She was joined on the panel by a child currently living in Direct Provision, who spoke movingly about challenges he faced, including hunger.
On Tues 8th Sept, the ESRI launched their 6th annual report on poverty and income inequality in Trinity College, which you can read here. Louise was invited to speak at the launch and later commented on the report on the 6 o’clock news on RTE.
Childcare - Shaping the Future Forum:
SVP was pleased to take part in the National Forum on the Future of Early Learning and Childcare, hosted by Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley. The Forum brought together organisations and stakeholders from across the sector to share views and help shape the future of early learning and childcare in Ireland. It was a valuable opportunity to hear a range of perspectives and to highlight the experiences of the children and families SVP supports, particularly those on low incomes. We emphasised the importance of building a childcare system that is affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families, and ensuring that these principles remain at the heart of future reforms.
Homelessness:
As part of the National Homeless Action committee, Louise attended a meeting chaired by the Minister for Housing, James Browne. He confirmed that the Child and Family Homeless Action plan had received cabinet approval and would be launched after the Budget. Louise raised the point that in the last year, the net increase in child homelessness was almost three times higher than in single adult homelessness.
Homelessness and Lone Parents - Focus Ireland Research:
Lone parents are the group most likely to live in poverty and at-risk of homelessness and therefor are the group that are most likely to come to us for assistance. As members of National One Parent Family Alliance, we are pleased to support this research and are pleased that by involving the voiced of people with lived research, the project had resulted in a tangible change for families experiencing homelessness. Read more here.
Human Rights:
On Wed 23rd Sept, Louise attended the annual conference of IHREC in Croke Park. It was an important discussion around the importance of a human rights framework in the current environment, and the event was attended by community leaders.
What's on the Horizon
We will be attending the AONTAS Adult Education Summit 2026 – 20th to 21st October 2026.
Newsletter Feedback
Thanks to those who got in touch. If you’d like to provide feedback please email socialjustice.newsletter@svp.ie
For those in NI, please get in touch with the team at the following email; socialjustice@svpni.co.uk
