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Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath discussed the budget today. Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

Public services among 'key objectives' that will frame budget, public expenditure minister says

The budget, which will be published next month, is also expected to include an increase in social welfare rates.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS The Government has a number of key objectives that will frame next year’s budget, the Minister for Public Expenditure has said.

Michael McGrath said that among its priorities is the need to have public services to be able to resume in as “normal way as possible” following a challenging 18 months.

The budget, which will be published next month, is also expected to include an increase in social welfare rates.

McGrath told RTE’s This Week programme that many people have had difficulty in accessing healthcare services, which he said is a priority for Government.

“We will have a number of key objectives really in framing Budget 2022 and among those will be the need to have a period where our public services can resume to function in as normal way as possible after what has been a really difficult 18 months for our country,” McGrath said.

“So many people have had difficulty in accessing certain services, particularly in health care. We have seen increases in waiting lists and obviously that will be a priority for Government.

“The whole issue of maintaining good public services through to 2022 and addressing many of the issues that arose over the course of the pandemic and of course securing economic recovery.”

He said the country is seeing a “strong rebound” in the economy.

“We need to see that transition into a sustainable recovery,” he added.

“When we look at all of the challenges that I have to try and manage on the expenditure side of the budget in child care, health, education housing, transport, capital spending, I’m in a position to meet many of those needs if we have a strong economy that is delivering the type of revenues that we need to meet the legitimate expectations that people have.”

He also said that Ireland needs to enter a period to start repairing the public finances.

McGrath said there was a “very large deficit” in last year’s budget, which will be followed by another large deficit this year.

“We need to start reducing it and we do that over time, carefully and gradually tapering the pandemic-related emergency expenditures and manging our core expenditure in a sustainable and responsible way,” the Fianna Fail minister added.

He also acknowledge the rising cost of living, particularly among pensioners.

McGrath would not confirm that social welfare rates will rise in next month’s budget, but said the Government is aware there has not been a hike in more than two years.

“We acknowledge that in the last two budgets there has not been an increase in core social welfare weekly rates and we will consider that issue in the next number of weeks,” he added.

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33 Comments
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    Mute Anthony Hilton
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    Sep 19th 2021, 5:47 PM

    Don’t worry about housing, I get to work 50 hours a week knowing I will never be able to afford a house serving some customers who have never worked a day in their life but have a brand new apartment

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    Mute Paul Mc
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    Sep 19th 2021, 5:31 PM

    Carbon taxes and an increase in fuel will add considerable costs to everyone but as per usual these jokers in charge will give themselves a few more rises while giving the pensioners and the disabled the price of a sliced pan and 500g of butter per week.
    Animal farm springs to mind with these pantomime performers.

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    Mute Kate Peters
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    Sep 19th 2021, 6:17 PM

    @Paul Mc: if you were to believe what was said in that piece,u would think,we only have a health crisis because of the Covid,and the truth is,people had me on waiting list for up to 3 years or more before the Covid,and this crap of 4 billion or what ever amount for housing,it all needs to go back to the old way,where every County Council were given money every year,and they built the houses where they were needed,and same with health,we were under the South Eastern Health board,if u had to wait 6 months for an operation or what ever it was,your GP would write to see what the hold up was..the cost of living in this Country is crazy,I’m disabled live alone,I got a €5 3 years ago,then the Council put our rents up,I’d to pay €4.80,

    118
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    Mute Sean Callan
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    Sep 19th 2021, 9:46 PM

    @Paul Mc:
    Pensioners are still awaiting full restoration of 2008 entitlements.
    Prescription charges,, phone allowances etc.
    No problem giving councilors a generous increase.
    No problem creating tax ‘avoidance’ loopholes for their benefactors??
    So now Minister Michael, Minister Paschal, act now or you may face a
    a very angry electorate quite soon.

    69
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    Mute John Mulligan
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    Sep 20th 2021, 8:49 AM

    @Sean Callan: people who paid for their own pensions were raided by Michael noonan in order to give a vat reduction to the vintners lobby, and they have to look at this deduction from their pensions every week for the rest of their lives.
    Meanwhile, all civil servants, including TDs, had all pay cuts restored.

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    Mute Richarddoherty
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    Sep 19th 2021, 5:20 PM

    Housing is an equally important issues for people why is that not made an equally important matter
    Don’t vote fine gael fianna fail greens the just don’t care

    182
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    Mute Paul Clancy
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    Sep 19th 2021, 5:32 PM

    @Richarddoherty: did they not already announce €4 billion for housing?

    52
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    Mute Richarddoherty
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    Sep 19th 2021, 5:53 PM

    @Paul Clancy: second time fine gael under leo has said 4 billion 1st time two years ago not much evidence of any of that why would you believe this time

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    Sep 19th 2021, 6:04 PM

    @Richarddoherty: oh let me guess, vote Sinn Fein instead because they’re doing such a fabulous job with housing in NI under their Minister for Housing.

    36
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    Mute OnlyHereForTheComments
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    Sep 19th 2021, 6:45 PM

    @Richarddoherty: In fairness, hard to actually build houses when the Goldilocks party object to everything

    17
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    Mute Brian Madden
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    Sep 19th 2021, 6:56 PM

    @GrumpyAulFella: who said anything about sinn fein. You need to take a day off and relax.

    66
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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Sep 19th 2021, 7:10 PM

    @Brian Madden: He has stated on here numerous times that he is not a supporter of FG or FF yet he defends them to the hilt and whatabouorises to SF everytime. An innate bore.

    62
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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    Sep 19th 2021, 8:21 PM

    @Frank Cauldhame: any examples of that Frank? I mean any at all? Do you not know Richard? You should read more comments. It’s the usual anti everyone but SF but too ashamed to actually state that his preference would be SF. It’s the Shinner default setting. You know yourself Frank.

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    Mute David Corrigan
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    Sep 19th 2021, 9:08 PM

    @GrumpyAulFella: Can you list out 5 positive contributions FG and/or FF have made in the last 10 years please?
    If these positive contributions exist, I would love to hear about them and understand them.
    Maybe they are there and I just don’t see it?

    43
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    Mute Bill Spill
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    Sep 19th 2021, 9:09 PM

    @GrumpyAulFella: Nah grumps I gotta agree with Frank. You do seem to ‘whatabout sf’ a bit. Maybe you genuinely hadn’t noticed?

    39
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    Mute Declan Doherty
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    Sep 19th 2021, 6:07 PM

    I don’t begrudge anything that anyone gets on welfare but I’m very tired of being forced to dig deeper and deeper to pay for it especially when my own cost of living continues to rise. It’s difficult to see where all the tax money goes when we get so little back in terms of services. There are massive savings to be made if we could start eliminating waste and overspend in the public service but of course it’s much easier to keep going back to the tax payer. The tax base is too thinly spread in this country and something will have to give.

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    Mute Honeybee
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    Sep 19th 2021, 8:07 PM

    The government need to open their eyes and ears, the rising energy costs estimated to cost between 400–550 euro before carbon taxes are added plus vat and standing charges. Then the property taxes which will escalate based on rising values on peoples homes, the tax Enda Kenny himself said was immoral. If energy costs rise then everything else goes up as a follow through. Even if 5 euro was added to pensions , it is already stripped away and disappeared and pensioners will have to dip into their meagre resources to meet existing increases. You would imagine when the USC was introduced and then made a permanent tax that the government would have accepted the hit people took but no, it seems there is never enough of taking what little disposable income remains. I think people will look long and hard at Green taxes when they struggle to heat and eat. No amount of carbon taxes will stop climate change while the big players, USA, India, China, Russia etc continue with their policies, in the meantime Irish people living on a small island on the edge of the Atlantic ocean will continue to be penalised for poor decision making which is out of their control.

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    Mute
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    Sep 19th 2021, 7:05 PM

    Going to be a disaster of a budget billions spent on a black hole of social housing crisis with little to no return . Those working have to pay for this while other services burn and crash.

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    Mute Margaret Kane
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    Sep 19th 2021, 6:15 PM

    Dont believe a word they say they are born liars

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Sep 19th 2021, 6:23 PM

    @Margaret Kane: I think it’s more to do with being a skill set they acquire to help further their ambitions rather than being born liars. Then again there have been so many political dynasties in the Dáil with a seemingly inbuilt inability to tell the truth that it might just be genetic in nature after all…

    37
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    Mute feargal de cantuin
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    Sep 19th 2021, 6:42 PM

    I hope public servants have enough self respect to vote out of office any parties supporting anti trade union legislation like FEMPI and any grouping in government who place cronyism ahead of fair taxation and fair public services.

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    Mute White Chapel
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    Sep 19th 2021, 8:40 PM

    @feargal de cantuin:
    Anti trade union legislation like FEMPI, are you serious? You’re obviously only concerned about public sector pay and conditions.
    The Government cuts you are talking about impacted workers, mostly those in the private sector. How many union staff lost their jobs as a result of the crash?
    I would guess very few, similar to the public sector

    17
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    Mute leartius
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    Sep 19th 2021, 7:18 PM

    Under the Public service wage agreement 2020.
    The Agreement provides for the following pay adjustments:
    A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% or €500, whichever is greater, on October 2021.
    The equivalent of a 1% increase in annualised basic salaries to be used as a Sectoral Bargaining Fund, in accordance with Chapter 2 of the Agreement, on 1 February 2022.
    A general round increase in annualised basic salaries for all public servants of 1% or €500, whichever is greater on, 1 October 2022.
    No one had it easy over the last 18 months but a 3% pay rise in 2020, 1% in 2121 and another 1% in 2022. How many private sector workers are as lucky? How many imported low pay workers dreaming of sick pay will get pay rises?

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Sep 19th 2021, 7:45 PM

    @leartius: Most public sector is muc pal.

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    Sep 19th 2021, 8:24 PM

    @leartius: are there annual increments also for going up points on the scale? What’s the pension scheme like? How many were on PUP? How many were made redundant during the health emergency? What’s the sick pay scheme like?

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    Mute Peter Dunwoody
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    Sep 19th 2021, 9:42 PM

    So here is what happened to me today, normally, at the weekend, because we have a window to go out in the Hostel I’m in, and get back in between two and three, over the weekend, I make a couple of decisions, I’ll take a walk, down as far as Connelly Station, and sit outside, if it is raining I’ll go to Heuston station, and sit under the shelter as many of my homeless friends do, and have my few drinks, The Bar is closed in Connelly anyway, which I used to enjoy a few drinks in. we could have been the best drinkers around, spent more in pubs, disco, went for major take-aways at the end of the night. Gave generous tips along the way to staff, enough to pay many wages, in their establishments. But we get shafted now.
    So I am down there at Connelly Station, having my beverage, and people are waiting for the Luas, coming off trains, but the Luas doesn’t run from Connelly on a Sunday till 3.30 and the last one out is around 7.30, but they have a display system up, giving times for services, going from the Point, to Tallagh, or Saggart, But what they don’t inform is that they are not going from Connely St, so you get a listing for the Luas, ( Display) for departures, which we all believe is going from Connelly that doesn’t, happen at all.
    So about a few dozen people are standing waiting for the Luas at Connelly St, so I went up and let them know that, there won’t be a Luas coming in to the station till 3.30. two hours later, and advised them to walk up around the corner, barely a couple of minute’s walk away, and they would get one every ten minutes or so, and away they went.
    I went up to use the toilets, in the building before I left, and was refused entry, because I was accused of been Drunk, and had approached these People, they believed I had intimidated them , force them to leave because of my behaviour, all I was doing was helping them, on a quicker form of transport, instead of leaving people standing in a scenario, waiting on a service, that may not be available for a further two hours, why aren’t the proper announcements made, or proper displays, we are becoming the laughing stock of the world, because of our decisions.

    17
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    Mute Ieva Giedrimaite
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    Sep 20th 2021, 5:47 AM

    Can somebody give a reasonable answer why Jobseeker’s Allowance is a permanent means-tested scheme? It would be difficult to find another EU country which supports jobseekers for more than 6-9 months, which is plenty to find a job!

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    Mute White Chapel
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    Sep 20th 2021, 7:25 AM

    @Ieva Giedrimaite:
    Jobseekers Allowance is for people who have lost their job and were paying prsi. The basic payment is not means tested and lasts for 9 months.
    Jobseekers benefit is means tested and can last indefinately so you are right about that much.
    People in Ireland believe in such things as “full employment” at which point pressure to seek employment reduces and this is tolerated. We also have ingenious schemes such as Seetec which are supposed to help people find employment.
    I dont blame the unemployed, but sometimes there just isnt enough encouragement or reward for to returning to work in Ireland

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    Mute Ieva Giedrimaite
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    Sep 20th 2021, 11:26 AM

    @White Chapel: I believe ir is the Jobseeker’s Benefit yiu are talking about.

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    Mute White Chapel
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    Sep 20th 2021, 6:17 PM

    @Ieva Giedrimaite:
    Sorry I got those the wrong way around above, but the rest of comment remains the same.
    Many reasons for remaining on the jobseekers, mainly because when unemployment reaches a certain percentage, it is regarded as full employment and the pressure on benefit recipients to rejoin the workforce is reduced.

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    Mute Matt
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    Sep 19th 2021, 8:01 PM

    Really they all are walking around with their heads up their own arses. Problems are not being addressed. No real will to intelligently finalise real change. There should be an all party approach, think tank whatever its called. Get rid of the whip system and be democratic.

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    Mute John Treacy
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    Sep 20th 2021, 12:48 AM

    You would think they’d make fossil fuel alternatives more affordable and provide them directly to pensioners instead of lashing on carbon taxes. People can’t afford long range electric vehicles and short range ones are useless outside cities maybe that should be looked at. Wealthy people will benefit as they can afford to save the environment and middle class will pay for it.

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    Mute Crystal Clear
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    Oct 3rd 2023, 6:34 AM

    ………………

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