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Budget 2022

PBS

The INOU 2022 Pre-Budget Submission covers six issues, and this article will look at the key calls the organisation makes on the Government under each of them. The six topics are adequate income; supportive employment services; access to decent work; employment programmes; education and training; and community-based organisations.

Adequate Income

At the INOU’s Annual Delegate Conference (ADC), the General Branch, the mechanism through which unemployed people play an active part in the running of the organisation, put the following motion to the Conference: The INOU calls on the Government to increase Social Welfare payments, in the context of the tacit acknowledgement by Government, with the introduction of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, that these rates are too low.

In Budget 2022 the INOU calls on the Government to:

  • Increase Social Welfare payments by €10, and adjust related supports so that people do not lose this increase through, for example, an increase in their differential rent.
  • Maintain the Christmas Bonus at 100% of the normal weekly payments for Social Welfare recipients, and facilitate access to this payment and the Fuel Allowance for people on Jobseekers Allowance for over 12 months (currently 15). Similar considerations should be given to long-term recipients of the PUP.
  • End the age segregation still evident in the Jobseeker’s Allowance payment.
  • Re-introduce pay-related Jobseeker Benefit payments and restore its duration.
  • Strive to ensure that people are fully aware of all of their options when their Pandemic Unemployment Payment comes to an end.
  • Support people who may wish to stay with their pre-COVID-19 employer to do so if that employment takes time to fully re-open.

Supportive Employment Services

Another motion passed at the ADC noted that “As Ireland recovers from the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 health pandemic, it will be vital that decent work is at the heart of Government employment and jobs policies.” And that the “INOU calls on the Government to deliver wrap around employment and support services that really meet the needs of people who are unemployed because of COVID-19 or were unemployed prior to the health pandemic and faced barriers in gaining access to the labour market.” 

In Budget 2022 the INOU calls on the Government to:

  • Resource the provision of good career and employment guidance to support unemployed people, regardless of whether or not they are on a payment, to make informed choices.
  • Address the remaining barriers to work and further incentivise the take-up of work.
  • Support people to address the initial costs of taking up employment, in particular the costs of travel and childcare.
  • Ensure that individuals and communities most disadvantaged in the labour market are pro-actively provided with tailor made supports to address their issues.

Access to Decent Work

Some people who experience discrimination in the labour market seek to address their unemployment through self-employment, and an important support for them is the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA). The scheme runs for two years, but the INOU believes that an additional year should be introduced to support people to make the most of this option with the participant retaining 50% of their social welfare payment in the third year. Such a development could be part of the Government’s expressed wish in the Economic Recovery Plan that “A range of measures will be introduced to support young people, disadvantaged groups and people distant from the labour market to find employment” . (p15)

In Budget 2022 the INOU calls on the Government to:

  • Ensure that decent work is at the heart of all employment policies, supports and service delivery.
  • Automate access to the Working Family Payment and streamline this access to minimise the time gap between the individual taking up employment and gaining access to this support.
  • Fully support unemployed people seeking to address their unemployment through self-employment.
  • Increase the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance to three years, and pay 50% of the participant’s social welfare payment in the third year.
  • Actively support the roll-out and attainment of the Living Wage.  
  • Add socio-economic status as a ground into Ireland’s equality legislation.

Employment Programmes

At a range of INOU event concerns have been raised at the small increase received by participants on Community Employment and Tús. At the online event on the future of social welfare a call was made that the “Department should look to increase the “CE wage” to recognise the hard and important work done by those on CE.”

In Budget 2022 the INOU calls on the Government to:

  • Ensure that unemployed people’s participation in employment programmes is by choice and that they are facilitated to gain good work experience and enhance their skills.
  • Acknowledge the cost of participation on employment programmes and support participants to meet these costs by increasing the top-up payment on these programmes by €7.50. 
  • Properly resource community groups in their work addressing the needs of people distanced from the labour market and people managing the impact of COVID-19 on their labour market participation.
  • Open up access to employment programmes for unemployed people who are not in receipt of a payment, in particular those signing on for credits.

Education and Training

In Budget 2022 the INOU calls on the Government to:

  • Provide good career and educational guidance to support people to access the most appropriate course.
  • Ensure there is good sign posting within and across the system so people of working age know where they can go to get the most appropriate supports and provision.
  • Acknowledge the cost of participation in education and training and support adult learners to meet these costs to facilitate their participation.
  • Properly resource learning that focuses on personal and community development and presents learners with opportunities to address issues in their own lives.
  • In planning for the increased digitalisation of work, ensure that unemployed people and vulnerable workers are supported to adapt and enhance their digital skills.

Community Based Organisations

In another motion to the INOU’s Annual Delegate Conference: “The Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre supports the INOU calls on the Government to fully support the development and maintenance of independent community-based organisations and their work with people experiencing social and economic exclusion, organisations which are critical to the delivery of inclusive employment and social services.”

In Budget 2022 the INOU calls on the Government to:

  • Resource the development and maintenance of independent community-based organisations and their work with people experiencing social and economic exclusion.
  • Support the community and voluntary sector, an important entry point for people more distanced from the labour market, to play its part in supporting employment, education, and training opportunities.   
  • Properly support community led social enterprises seeking to address exclusion from the labour market and improve access to affordable supports and services. 

To read the full submission please click here.