PEOPLE on the dole should not get the same budget pay bounce as pensioners while Ireland is at full employment, Tanaiste Simon Harris has claimed.
The Fine Gael leader today held talks with business leaders, trade unions and State agencies in Dublin to discuss the potential impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs on the Irish economy.
There is just one week left until deadline day for the introduction of punishing US tariffs on EU goods with negotiators locked in talks to try to secure a last minute deal to avoid an all-out trade war.
The meeting was told to expect a new norm of 10 per cent tariffs on goods being exported to the US regardless of the outcome of the EU US talks.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said that the Trump tariffs will hit Irish businesses hard and could result in job losses and fewer jobs being created by inward investment from US companies.
However, the Finance Minister said Ireland’s economy will still continue to grow and the jobs market will remain strong with the country currently at full employment.
In their general election manifesto, Fianna Fail promised to increase all core welfare payments by €12 annually while Fine Gael committed to increasing the State pension to €350 over the lifetime of the government.
With businesses struggling to find workers to fill vacant positions, Tanaiste Simon Harris today indicated that the Government may freeze the jobseekers allowance at its current level instead of including it in any social welfare increases in the upcoming budget.
Asked if the Government will separate the jobseekers allowance from other welfare hikes in the budget, the Tanaiste told the Irish Sun: “I do always think there is merit in not looking at social welfare payments with uniformity across the board.
“We’ve been talking a lot about college fees the last couple of days unexpectedly perhaps but roughly speaking the equivalent of €1.20 or €1.25 on every social welfare payment is roughly the equivalent of reducing the college fees by €1,000.
“So budgets are all about choices. They are all about balance and there is only so much money in the pot so I will keep an open mind on that.
“I’m not convinced that you need to see as significant a rise in the dole as you do in the pension for example at a time when our country is in full employment and there’s lots of supports out there for people getting into work and there is other supports out there for people who can’t work for very many good reasons.
“That is my view but we will thrash all that out in the budget and there’s a long way to go.”
Government leaders have ruled out any cost of living bonuses for the upcoming budget as they plan to dial back spending due to concerns about the economic impact of the Trump tariffs.
NO BONUS PAYMENTS
The Budget 2025 package – the largest in the history of the State – was made up of a mixture of increased payments, 10 once-off lump sums for social welfare recipients, a minimum wage increase and tax changes.
It included two double Child Benefit payments handed out before Christmas, €400 extra for carers and €300 for those on Fuel Allowance.
Budget 2025 also provided an additional October cost-of-living double payment as well as the usual social welfare Christmas bonus.
But Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers previously admitted that they are reluctant to make any spending or taxation decisions in Budget 2026 that “create new risks”.
COLLEGE FEE ROW
This year’s lack of cost of living package has led to a row between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael over college fees which were temporarily lowered by €1,000 in the last budget but could rise back to €3,000 in the next budget unless action is taken.
Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers could not give a straight answer in the Dail today when asked how much college fees will be for students from September onwards.
Sinn Fein, the Social Democrats and even back bench Government TDs pressed for clarity on the future of college fees but the Dail was told that it would be a matter for budget negotiations
Higher Education Minister James Lawless said: “The indications are – and we haven’t entered budget discussions in earnest yet as we’re engaged in the national development plan at the moment which obviously will have a significant uplift in education and research as well – but the indications are that there won’t be a cost of living package this year.
“So all of us in any walk of life have to play the hands we’re dealt.”
Asked to clarify, the Minister said: “The once-off supports – and they were phrased very clearly as once-off supports – are not being provided for as it stands because there is no cost of living package being made available.
“That may change coming into the budget. It’s a matter for the Finance Minister more so than myself but that is what’s coming.”
