Carol Nolan: Says Budget 2023 misses on energy and welfare
Carol Nolan spoke in the Budget 2023 debate, welcoming some supports but arguing the Budget represents missed opportunities on energy policy, social welfare and public services. She criticised the Government's energy direction, warned welfare increases would not match inflation, and flagged capacity shortfalls in health and childcare services.
Energy policy and electricity credit
The speaker noted the Budget's €600 electricity credit to be applied in three instalments but said it did not alter the Government's energy strategy. She criticised the continued commitment to a renewables-first course without a clear switch to funding LNG, gas or oil exploration, arguing that inaction has prolonged the energy crisis and will make future electricity credits and business supports inevitable. She welcomed the extension of fuel allowance eligibility and raised the prospect of reclaiming bogs as an indigenous fuel source for power plants.
Social welfare and children's payments
Carol Nolan said the increases to children's allowance and social welfare fall short of proposals from her Rural Independent Group and will not keep pace with inflation. She cited analysis showing a €15 rise in core social welfare rates would equate to a 7.2% increase for some payments but noted the Government chose a smaller rise that will be eaten up by inflation. She also urged retention of the children's allowance for post-primary pupils who turn 18 while in full-time education.
Carers and one-off payments
She welcomed a once-off payment for carers but echoed the Family Carers Association's concerns about means testing and the lack of a long-term strategy. Nolan emphasised that around half a million carers save the State an estimated €20 billion every year and argued they deserve more than short-term measures.
Health service capacity concerns
The deputy highlighted the planned expansion of the GP visit card scheme to include an extra 430,000 patients a year but questioned where the additional GPs will come from, citing chronic shortages in counties such as Leish and Offaly. She raised similar capacity concerns for oral health funding, asking where the dentists will be found to meet increased spending commitments.
Childcare and early years funding
Carol Nolan said childcare costs have been a long-standing problem and that early years providers have sought additional core funding for years. She welcomed announcements on childcare but warned providers had identified systemic issues with the funding model and called for a full re-evaluation.
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important debate in terms of Budget 2023, and I will certainly try to be as constructive as possible in recognising some few positives that have been announced and the supports that have been introduced which were long sought. But I want to also highlight some of the areas that will have clearly emerged as lost opportunities. For example, much has been made of the fact that the Budget provides for €600 electricity credit to be applied on all bills in three separate instalments, but the policy direction of Ireland's energy development remains essentially unchanged. That is the root cause of many of the issues that consumers face in terms of prices. Government remains committed to pursuing a precarious and unstable course of power or source of power in the form of renewables. It has signalled no clear switch to the funding of LNG or gas or oil exploration. All this means is that Government, through its own inaction, has prolonged the energy crisis for households and businesses and made it even more certain that future electricity credits will have to be delivered, as well as supports for those businesses who can survive in such a hostile pricing climate. Without a fundamental shift in our energy policy, I wonder if at all the Government has done is delay the inevitable collapse of the SME sector, who will at some point or other simply be unable to cope with the level of bills that will need paying, even in the context of the additional supports announced today. I do welcome the fact that the fuel allowance eligibility will be extended. Fuel poverty is real and it is an issue that should shame us at a so-called First World, as a so-called First World developed nation. But again, why no shift in terms of our approach to peace or reclaiming the bogs as Indigenous sources of fuel and of energy for our power plants that have been shuttered by a short-sighted and rigid approach, which I completely opposed at the very beginning and will continue to do so. Your Government is also making a lot of noise about how this multi-billion euro cost of living, about this multi-euro cost of living budget, but where did those costs come from? Many of them were there years before the war in Ukraine, years before the energy crisis that is unfolding. The cost of childcare in this state has been on the political agenda for a decade or so now. For at least the last six years, families and working parents have been telling successive governments that they cannot afford the excessive fees that are being asked of them. Early years, childcare providers will also have been seeking additional core funding for years. Even when it was announced in the last few weeks, many providers identified major systematic issues with it and sought to have the entire core funding model re-evaluated. I welcome the announcement with respect to the children's allowance payment and the increases in social welfare payments. They fall far short of what I and my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group proposed. The increases today will not keep pace with the inflationary pressures and at the very most will simply allow families to tread water as the costs rise under them. As we know from parliamentary budget office analysis, the tax strategy group paper on social protection outlined potential options for welfare rate changes in budget 2023. A €15 increase in core social welfare payments such as job seekers allowance benefit, one parent family benefit illness benefit that are currently set at €208 equates to a 7.2% increase. But given actual inflation rates at €15 increase would not cover the 2022 inflation, resulting in a fall in the real value of the core social welfare rates. A €15 increase in the contributory state pension, currently €253.50, equates to a 5.9% increase, falling considerably short of the likely overall 2022 inflation rate. Government has chosen to limit the increase to €12, meaning that the increase will be eaten up. Several months ago I called for the retention of the children's allowance to all post-primary school pupils who may have turned 18 while in full-time education. That would have been a direct benefit and a direct help to these families who continue to struggle day in, day out. In terms of the carers, I do welcome the once-off payment announced, but the Family Cares Association have said that the means test issue remains a major source of concern for them. Also, there is no long-term vision, as the Family Cares have pointed out, there is no long-term vision for the carers that save this day €20 billion every year. That is very concerning. What you have given them are just short-term measures, as such as the once-off payment. That is a very short-term thing. But really and truly, I would have felt that they deserved a lot more support. We have, I think, about half a million carers in this state. As I say, they are saving the state £20 billion a year. It is disappointing to see that their needs are not fully met and that there is no long-term vision. A major expansion in GP visit card scheme bringing in 430,000 extra patients a year. But how will the GPs cope? I mean, we have a chronic shortage of GPs. I know in Leish and Offaly, GPs cannot take on new patients. So where are the GPs coming from? I would just like to know. All of these fanciful notions, I think, are misleading people. In that case, certainly, you need to be honest with people. The increase in spending for oral health. But where are the dentists? There is a chronic shortage and there is an issue with medical card holders not getting access to dentists. So where are these dentists coming out of? I have raised these issues a number of times, but I think you are not being straight up with people, you are not being straight up with the public on these issues. You are trying to to create something that can't be done basically, fanciful notions in some cases. I would like to see how you are going to increase numbers of GPs to meet what you have promised here. Thanks.
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