SVP says Budget 2027 not making meaningful progress on poverty reduction

Society says Budget fails to match Government’s own social inclusion ambitions

6th October 2026

The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) has warned that Budget 2027 risks leaving low-income households standing still rather than making meaningful progress out of poverty.

 SVP said that while a number of targeted measures are welcome, the overall package falls short of the investment needed to deliver on the Government’s own Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2026–2030, including its commitment to reduce consistent poverty among children from 7.8% to 3% and overall consistent poverty from 4.7% to 2% by 2030.

CORE SOCIAL WELFARE RATE 

SVP says the level of adjustment in core social welfare rates represents a missed opportunity to make meaningful progress on income adequacy. Alongside a €15 per week increase in core social welfare rates, the Society had called for increases to the child support payment of €10 for children under 12 and €18 for children aged 12 and over. The €6 increase announced falls well short of what is needed to reduce child poverty and ensure low-income families can keep pace with rising living costs.

SVP welcomed the €10 adjustment in the income disregard (to €175) for the One-Parent Family Payment and Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment as a positive targeted measure to support lone-parent families, however SVP had hoped for an increase to €235 to maintain the real value of work to lone parents.

Teresa Ryan, SVP National President, said, “This Budget needed to mark the beginning of real progress towards the Government’s own poverty reduction targets. Instead, for too many households, it risks amounting to standing still.

 “Despite significant public expenditure the question must be whether spending is reaching the people who need it most and delivering lasting change. A Budget must be judged by whether fewer children are growing up in poverty, whether families can afford the essentials and whether people have an adequate income to live with dignity. Failing to sufficiently target resources towards those people is a missed opportunity.”

Louise Bayliss, SVP Head of Social Justice and Policy, said, “Children live within households. If the overall household income remains inadequate, parents will continue to be forced to make impossible choices between food, heating, housing, school costs and other essentials.

“Targeted child supports are extremely important, but they must sit alongside an adequate adult social welfare rate if the Government is serious about meeting its commitment to reduce child consistent poverty to 3% by 2030. Those targets need to drive Budget decisions. Maintaining people at their current level of income is not the same as lifting people out of poverty.”

CHILDCARE & EDUCATION

SVP welcomes the capping of childcare costs to €550 per month for children up to and including Senior Infants. This represents further progress towards the Programme for Government commitment to reduce Early Childhood Education and Care costs to a maximum of €200 per month per child. SVP said “Affordable and accessible childcare can make an enormous difference to family finances and parents’ ability to participate in employment and education.”

In education, SVP is pleased with the 20% increase in capitation funding for primary schools, but would have liked to see a greater increase for post-primary schools, more in line with what the Society had called for. The Society hopes the additional funding will help eliminate the need for schools to rely on voluntary contributions from parents.

SVP also welcomes the increase in SUSI grants and the recognition of the additional pressures facing families with multiple children in third-level education.

ENERGY SUPPORTS 

SVP has welcomed the €5 increase in the Fuel Allowance and the increase in the income threshold for single pensioners but warned that energy affordability remains a serious concern for people on low incomes.

While the weekly increase goes beyond the €4 rise called for by SVP, the measure does not match the Society’s recommendation to retain the Fuel Allowance payment season at 32 weeks. SVP had called for the payment to increase to €42 per week over the full 32-week season, an annual increase of €280, the measure in Budget 2027 amounts to half of this and does not match the increase in household energy costs.

This year, the Society has received 21,379 direct requests for assistance with energy costs, a further 5% increase on the same period last year.

Teresa Ryan said, “Heating is a non-discretionary cost. The households that our Members visit cannot simply choose not to heat their homes when prices rise. The measures announced today will provide some support, but we remain concerned about whether they are sufficient for households facing another difficult winter.”

HOUSING COSTS 

SVP welcomes the continued investment in new-build social homes but is disappointed that Budget 2027 contains no announcement on the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), despite the significant pressure facing households paying rent above HAP limits. The Society looks forward to further detail on housing supports in the forthcoming Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan, the Homelessness Prevention Framework and the review of HAP.

In its pre-Budget 2027 Submission, SVP called for an Additional Needs Payment to ensure households do not fall below a minimum adequate income after housing costs, including those required to make significant HAP top-up payments.

SVP said, “A household may appear to have an adequate income until rent and HAP top-ups are taken into account. What remains afterwards has to cover food, energy, transport and all the other costs of daily life.”

DISABILITY 

SVP said that while the €500 Cost of Disability Payment is an important recognition of the additional costs faced by people with disabilities it remains well below existing estimates of the real cost of disability, which can amount to several thousand euro annually and vary significantly depending on individual circumstances.

SVP also welcomes the Government’s commitment to introduce a more comprehensive Cost of Disability Payment by 2028. The Society believes a permanent, year-round payment would provide greater certainty and make it easier for households to budget for the additional and ongoing costs associated with disability.

CONCLUSION 

SVP said Budget 2027 comprises several welcome measures but warned that significant Government expenditure cannot be considered successful if poverty and deprivation levels remain largely unchanged.

The Society also expressed disappointment at a number of missed opportunities to provide more targeted support for children and families living on low incomes. These include the lack of progress on the implementation of an International Protection Child Payment equivalent to Child Benefit, despite previous commitments, and the absence of measures to address the additional barriers facing low-income families accessing Transition Year.

Louise Bayliss concluded, “This Government has told us where it wants Ireland to be by 2030. It has committed to substantially reducing child poverty and overall consistent poverty. Each Budget between now and then has to move us measurably closer to those targets.

 “The measure of Budget 2027 is whether families will be better able to afford the essentials, whether fewer children experience poverty and deprivation, and whether people who are struggling today are genuinely better off tomorrow. On that measure, Budget 2027 does not match the ambition set out in the Government’s own Roadmap for Social Inclusion.”

 ENDS

For further information and/or to arrange an interview:

Maree Rigney, Walsh, Tel: 086 358 7153