Budget 2024 - The Squeezed Middle

FionnB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121222851#Comment_121222851

Thanks for that, so it means you wouldn't get it for a few months, but get it again next September if your child is still 18? Seems a bit ridiculous.

maggie magoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121222921#Comment_121222921

Hopefully they'll find a work around it but I somehow doubt it. I'm really pissed off anyway as it would take the pressure off. Hope they don't scrap it by the time the sibling turns 18!! 🤪

Kalimah

I was delighted to hear that the student contribution was decreasing by €1000 and in the case of families earning under 100k by €1500. Unfortunately we won't benefit as our student returned to college after dropping out last year, and the decrease is only for those who are eligible for free tuition fees.

Next year the student contribution is being abolished for those with an income of under €55,924- we're over that by a couple of k.

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121222520#Comment_121222520

As a person who isn't on 250k but I am earning on the higher end of spectrum, I can confidently say that I don't really need to worry about money. I can comfortably afford my mortgage, if I had kids I would be able to afford the associated costs. Even with existing medical issues, I can afford that.

So nope, if a family on 250k is struggling to make ends meet then they are fiscally irresponsible. You can try to spin it any way you want but on that amount, they can easily get a financial advisor to help them with their finances if they're that incompetent.

I've seen so many people on high salaries who complain about costs that seem oblivious to the fact that they're far better off than the majority of the public. It's just a living in a bubble mentality.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

A good friend of mine has 70,000 on their mortgage , she is single and in relation to her income, her mortgage payments are significant. In addition she’s paying more as she sensibly opted for a fixed rate to avoid market fluctuations . She gets f all from this budget. I’m sure many other single people are in the same situation.

Ezeoul

Is this an actual piss take?

Man on disability allowance welcomes three energy credits worth total of €450 – The Irish Times

He will see his weekly allowance go up by €12 to €232 a week from January.

He will get a double payment of this at the €220 rate in December and at the €232 rate in January. In addition he is looking forward to receiving a €300 lump sum in November as he is a fuel-allowance recipient and a one-off €200 as he receives the living alone allowance.

“However, this is a Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael government and they have a vision of the economy and what it can deliver to marginalised groups. I think in that context we have got a pretty good deal. Perhaps a Sinn Féin-led government would do better.”

How much more did he feckin' want?!?

Kitty Holland outdoing herself again.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223515#Comment_121223515

How much do you think the permanently disabled should be expected live on per week?

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121220125#Comment_121220125

How do they decide if something is vacant?

Is a holiday property or apt in the city on top of a ppr reckoned as vacant?

techman1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121217094#Comment_121217094

Yes the government here takes the multinationals for granted. Intel has completed its fab34 facility, a 17billion investment, the Irish government has never done an investment that big, we don't really do infrastructure like other countries but rather give 12 euro social welfare increases and double payments aswell ,that's worth an extra 850euros per year extra to a welfare recipient bigger than the 700 euro tax cut to the 40k worker, that's where the government's priorities still lie.

At the fab34 opening last week varadker said that this investment proves that intel is not just here for years but for decades. Gelsinger, the intel chief, quickly chimed in with

"yes but ireland needs to compete for all future contracts"

basically telling varadker nothing is guaranteed and if intel has to pay too much for labour because of very high welfare rates ireland won't be getting the investment

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223515#Comment_121223515

try live off it, go on, try it! and of course try live with whatever disability is also going on!

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223529#Comment_121223529

I have family members on Disability Allowance and and they have more disposable income at the end of the week than I do! So don't come at me with that.

This is in the context of the Budget, and what he got was very generous compared to what people who are at work got.

Yet he thinks "maybe Sinn Fein would do better?" Get the fcuk out of here....

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223571#Comment_121223571

Id rather be working than disabled. There's loads of free loaders to have a go at but disabled people can clean up as far as I'm concerned.

They're a forgotten minority in most of life.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223557#Comment_121223557

Lol.

I can guarantee you the type of workers Intel are looking for will be earning much more than 230 quid a week for the best part regardless of welfare rates. I'd also say that Intel shouldn't expect people to work for any less than they are worth. **** them. A multi billion dollar company. Varadkar was right too. No way are intel going anywhere. They have it good here.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223571#Comment_121223571

You must be on really low pay of have serious outgoings if someone getting at most 15k a year with fuel allowance etc is better off than you. A lot of people want to try and hammer home that narrative but it's fairly often bollix. They still have the same grocery bills, esb bills etc than you or I.

It says a lot about individuals and society about how we treat the most vulnerable in society. I'm not talking about the long terms dole heads. I'm talking about people unable to work due to physical or mental conditions. €234 quid a week is paltry.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223563#Comment_121223563

As I said, I have family members on disability allowance, including my own daughter. I hold a disability badge myself.

I am not unaware of the plight of being disabled. So spare me the emotional blackmail!

But thinking that they should have got more than what was given? That maybe Sinn Fein will do better?

THAT is what I take issue with.

What was given, was generous, in my opinion. Feel free to disagree, but I stand by it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223647#Comment_121223647

okay then

Quit your job and apply for DA. If you’d be that much better off?

Always the same shite. You’d lambast them for all their free money but I don’t see a single one of ye willing to live on it yourself.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223647#Comment_121223647

For anyone with a serious disability that affects every waking minute of their life they'd need millions a year to enjoy any sort of normal. So a paltry weekly increase is just that, paltry.

I'm sure there's plenty claiming disability disingenuously but that's for the government to police.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223620#Comment_121223620

I would really recommend you don't make this personal, or I can go there too.

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223647#Comment_121223647

many if not most on disability would have far more complex needs than those that arent, many would have complex psychological issues/disorders, some of which have not been diagnosed, therefore have been untreated, these would present themselves in the form of anxiety and depression based disorders, which in turn generally ends in dysfunctional self medicative actions such as alcohol and drug dependency etc etc, its very messy stuff....most live in extreme precarity....

sf is on the way, whether we like it or not, as more and more are now also entering this rise in precarity, including many in employment, but the reality is, they may not be able to do much about it...

generous! well thats highly subjective now, isnt it, yes some on da will be fine, but many, probably most, just arent!

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223657#Comment_121223657

Yep, I will lambast the greed I see it as, and have no shame in doing so. Someone has to call it out for what it is.

Always the hand out for more. No matter what is given, its never enough. "Could be better".

There are working people who won't see a net increase in their income of €12 a week from this budget, who have the same bills too. Let alone all the double weeks and cash extras on top.

If you don't like it being said, tough.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223715#Comment_121223715

Right so why don’t you go on disability allowance then if you’d be so much better off?

You didn’t answer my question.

downtheroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223503#Comment_121223503

Its not Oprah or the Late Late Show. What is this "you get a tax rebate, you get a welfare increase, one for everyone in the audience" mentality? If she has 70k outstanding on her mortgage her LTV must be extremely low and she would have had options to re-arrange her finance with another lender. And fair play to her for opting for a fixed rate, smart move.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223731#Comment_121223731

I don't have to answer your question.

Potatoeman

A total spending package of 14bn and 2-4bn spending on refugees. Seems reflective of the governments priorities.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223715#Comment_121223715

I mean you couldn't pay me to be disabled so I've genuinely no idea why you're comparing it to able bodied workers.

Its apples and oranges.

Beta Ray Bill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223620#Comment_121223620

Intel is still a behemoth, but the IT world regarding CPU's and chips is changing faster than ever before. AMD (who have no real presence in Ireland bar Xilinx) are running away with the CPU market, Intel have fallen very far behind in terms of performance and technology (and with costs soaring). Like AMD chips on average perform 20/30% better than the equivalent Intel CPU.

If hindsight was a usable thing, Intel would not have invested here again, I know people out on that site and it's been one p*sstake after another. (Sub-Contractors paradise).

Intel are also agitated by their ability to attract staff, from a logistical perspective it's a pain in the ass to get there by public transport and Intel themselves have had to invest in their own feeder bus service from various transport links. Coupled with the high staffing costs for what is essentially a technical version of Production line work, will make Intel think twice before investing in Ireland again.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223674#Comment_121223674

Ye What? What does that mean?

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223810#Comment_121223810

What I said. Don't make it personal.

I'm entitled to think that what was given to disability allowance recipients like the one in the article (and welfare recipients in general) in the budget was generous.

If you disagree with that opinion, fine - but don't start bringing my personal circumstances in to it.

Hotblack Desiato

Always the hand out for more. No matter what is given, its never enough. "Could be better".

Well there are a lot of things that could be better - a lot of people delivering services to elderly, disabled etc. are very poorly paid and the government has effectively outsourced their roles to 'voluntary bodies' then won't fund those bodies to provide cost of living increases (or any increases at all). Hence understaffing is getting worse and services which were inadequate to begin with get worse.

They could and should be doing a lot more for mental health too.

Topgear on Dave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121223783#Comment_121223783

I totally agree.

They're trying to break into the foundry business too with the new fab here, but TSMC etc are already well established in it.

I'd be very careful predicting the future there. It's not the 90's anymore.