For Tom, like so many others on Disability Allowance, the difference is stark - he’d be getting €2,610 more this year under our alternative budget.

Here’s another case study looking at the impacts of the budget announced by the government this week. This time we’re looking at how someone reliant on the Disability Allowance might be impacted, and how the government measures stack up against the Social Democrats’ alternative budget proposals.

As you can see - pensioners would be much better off under a Social Democrats government. In Eileen’s case, to the tune of €990! This budget has not delivered for pensioners.

I’ve been going through the government’s budget package and looking at how people are likely to actually fare financially in the coming year. Here’s one example which shows how the Social Democrats alternative budget stacks up against what the government delivered yesterday.

Not one penny of funding for the Dublin City Taskforce in Government’s Budget 2027.

Disabled people’s organisations called for a 55 euro per week cost of disability payment (nearly €3,000 per year). The government instead delivered less than a tenner (€500) after 20 years of talking about it.

Changing the carers means test threshold by 150euro is effectively keeping it the same, in real terms. Zero delivery on a key programme for government commitment to abolish it altogether.

Government is increasing child poverty initiatives (WFP, Child Support Payment) by less than half the increase it gave last year (136M vs ~330M), also, as families are at greater risk of poverty in the cost of living crisis…

This budget has announced no plans to extend the fuel allowance (so it’s going back to 28 weeks) but has increased the rate by 5 euro. (28 weeks x 5euro increase = 140 euro). Talk about leaving the vulnerable out in the cold.

To explain, in April the government extended fuel allowance by 4 weeks and restored it to 32 weeks at a rate of 38 euro per week, worth about 152 euro more per person. By contrast…

So it turns out, in the middle of an energy crisis, the government is planning on spending less on fuel allowance this winter than it did last winter…

Social Protection payments, as well as the income disregard levels which form part of the means test, have had their purchasing power gradually eroded since the austerity era. This includes payment schemes designed to support our most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society.

The government has been clear about prioritising tax cuts in tomorrow's budget. While changes to our tax system might be warranted, the conversation about indexation and inflation always leaves out a crucial part of our budget: the Social Protection System.

I’m continuing to push for the Minister to expand take-up of the Working Family Payment so that families get the support they are entitled to.

The Department of Social Protection is well able to work with other agencies to identify who is or isn’t in receipt of certain payments. They used that power to work with revenue and cause deep distress to carers earlier this year by issuing confusing information about their tax liabilities.

That so many of these families are not getting the support they’re entitled to is deeply concerning.

It’s estimated that almost 50% of families eligible for the Working Family Payment are not availing of it. This is one of the most important targeted payments in Social Protection, for people who are already working and still falling short of what they need to get by.

It’s fine to talk about whether or not income tax indexation is the right thing to do, but let's also talk about social protection and building a system that protects us all.