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“CAN YOU JUST speak in normal language and tell me what I need to hear?”
That frustrated plea from a pensioner was among the milder comments made by callers to Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Jack Chambers this morning.
The two ministers were on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Show defending the allocations made in yesterday’s Budget.
During the call-in segment, they faced sharp criticism from middle-class families, farmers, small business owners, and others who felt the budget offered little direct relief for their finances.
Liz, a pensioner, asked why the government hadn’t increased the Living Alone Allowance, a weekly payment of €22 for people on certain social welfare supports who live alone.
“I’m as cold at 66 as I will be at 70,” she said.
Chambers was first up to bat, telling the caller that he”acknowledged the issue”.
“What we have tried to do is get the balance right between rate increases and also making targeted intervention in other areas of the social protection package,” Chambers told Liz.
“A significant portion of the social protection package was on a rate increase, which is universal across pensions, and then we made other targeted decisions to support families and pensioners as well.”
Chambers added that a significant proportion of the social welfare package was across the board, referring to the €10 increase in weekly payments.
He said the government wished to make further progress on social protection in the years to come.
Liz replied: “It’s cold comfort for me, excuse the pun. Have you any clue what it’s like.”
Donohoe said he and Chambers “absolutely understand” the situation Liz is in.
She interrupted the “beautiful words”, but said: “Words, minister words. I can’t live on words.”
Another question came from Marie, whose daughter and her child with special needs is living with her in order to save for a home.
The question is pretty straightforward – “What has this budget done for us, the squeezed middle?”
Donohoe answered, stating that the aim of the budget is to protect the economy.
He added that this “this is a budget that is delivering additional funding for services”.
But, as Marie said, she has had no option to go private and says “there is nothing for us.”
Donohoe stressed again the need to protect jobs.
Gerry, a small business owner, followed on, and similarly asked about what the Budget provides for “the squeezed middle”.
Chambers echoed Donohoe and pointed to the need to protect the broader economy.
Garvin, a parent with two sons in college, said that the €1,000 reduction for each of his sons’ fees had been lowered to a €500 reduction, but said that it had been “made to look like we are getting something” compared with the original fee of €3,000.
Garvin, a parent with two sons in college, said the announced €1,000 reduction in student fees had in practice been cut to €500 per child.
“You’ve made it look like we’re getting something,” he said.
Chambers responded with references to “wider economic risk,” prompting Garvin to ask him to “speak to us in normal language.”
Chambers insisted that the €500 reduction was “the first cut in 30 years”, but Garvin pushed back: “It doesn’t look like an increase — it is an increase.”
A farmer then called in about the Residential Zoned Land Tax, saying that for farmers “it’s an eviction notice.”
“You have to apply not to pay it,” he explained. “There’s a massive rigmarole, and you have to pay people to handle the paperwork. Farmers are being tortured with procedures.”
Donohoe replied: “We currently know of 526 pieces of land now being developed that otherwise wouldn’t have been without this tax.
“If you’re farming on land zoned for agriculture, you’re automatically excluded. But if your land is zoned for other purposes, you must go through a process to apply for an exemption.”
Another caller, Louise, said she and her husband (parents of two children) were “heavily reliant on childcare”.
She pointed out that the government had pledged to cap childcare costs at €200 per month, but her family was still paying €1,500 a month.
Chambers responded that Minister Norma Foley would reduce the maximum fee from September 2026, with details to be announced in the spring.
He said the cap would be phased in “over the course of government,” as it couldn’t be achieved in one go.
Louise noted that since the pledge was made for 2024, she would likely see no benefit by 2026 or 2027, by which time her youngest child would already be out of childcare.
Donohoe added that funding had increased for the early childcare scheme, allowing 30,000 more children to benefit.
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