COPE Galway has expressed disappointment on the absence of a dedicated funding stream in Budget 2027 for the long-promised Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan.
“We are heading into another winter where record numbers of people are living in emergency accommodation; at a local level in Galway alone this is the situation for 250 children and their families. And on top of these we are seeing more and more people sleeping rough. This Budget announcement was an opportunity missed by Government to clearly say to those who are homeless ‘you are our priority’”, said Martin O’Connor of COPE Galway.
In today’s Budget 2027 announcement, a range of measures relating to housing were detailed including €3.2bn for social housing delivery and €2.2bn to support what was described as the ‘social housing needs of 110,000 households’ and emergency supports for those facing homelessness.
“While we welcome this level of capital commitment, ‘business as usual’ is not enough, there is a need for real and effective measures to tackle this crisis. We hope over the coming hours and days we will see the announcement of such measures,’ said Mr O’Connor.
Cost of living challenges remain
The local Galway charity has also highlighted concerns for a growing number of people who are impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and question the adequacy of the range of measures to address this in Budget 2027. “In the ‘give-away’ budget announced today, many will do well to standstill, never mind find their lot improved,” stated Mr O’Connor.
“Increasing day to day living costs are not adequately addressed. We know from our work that there are people in our community, in particular older people, who are facing a difficult winter. The minimal increases to social welfare rates and other supports such as fuel allowance aren’t enough at this time of such uncertainty’.
Weekly basic social welfare rates which are to increase by €10, and a €5 fuel allowance increase are among the measures announced.
In its Budget 2027 submission, COPE Galway had called for targeted investment across the services and communities it supports, with a particular focus on people experiencing or at risk of poverty. The local Galway Charity had called for a €20 per week increase in basic Social Welfare rates and targeted increases to the Fuel Allowance and Household Benefits Package, reflecting the real cost of living and helping low-income households manage accelerating energy costs.
They had called for changes that would make it easier for women and children experiencing domestic violence to leave abusive situations safely and move towards secure, independent lives. COPE Galway had proposed a range of measures focused on supporting older people to age well and remain connected to their communities, highlighting the longer-term importance of this with the number of people aged over 65 projected to double by 2051.
“We look forward to examining the detail of the individual Government department announcements in the coming days,” Mr O’Connor concluded.
COPE Galway’s full Budget 2027 submission is available at copegalway.ie/budgetsubmission
