The theme of this year’s National Economic Dialogue was “A more shock-prone world: challenges and opportunities for Ireland”. In the background paper, under the heading of “Well-being” - How is Ireland performing?, the Government notes that “This year’s data show that women, immigrants/non-Irish, unemployed people, people with long-term illness or disability, single-parent households, households with lower incomes, and households in rented accommodation perform less-well than other comparable groups across multiple well-being dimensions.” (p8)
The INOU’s Pre-Budget 2025 submission has five themes: Adequate Income; Supportive Employment Services; Employment and Programmes; Education and Training; and Community Based Organisations. Under the theme of Adequate Income the INOU is calling on the Government to “Increase Social Welfare payments by €20, and adjust related supports so that people do not lose this increase through, for example, an increase in their differential rent.” This call is building on the motion debated and passed at the INOU’s Annual Delegate Conference which stated that the “INOU demands that the Government benchmarks all social welfare rates at a level which is sufficient to lift people above the poverty line and provide them with a Minimum Essential Standard of Living; and to properly support unemployed people and others marginalised in the labour market to participate in meaningful education, training and employment programmes.”