{"id":1777,"date":"2022-02-10T20:30:22","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T20:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/"},"modified":"2022-02-10T20:30:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T20:30:22","slug":"government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tinkering around the edges will do little to help those struggling to survive in the long-term<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The government\u2019s response to the cost-of-living crisis is not sufficiently targeted at those who need help the most, according to Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast bulk of the funding announced today is for a blanket \u20ac200 electricity credit that will be paid to every household, regardless of income. In fact, the owners of 62,000 holiday homes in Ireland are set to receive a \u20ac12.4 million bonanza under the government\u2019s plan. Many high earners who receive this payment do not need it, but there are others in desperate need of substantial support who are barely keeping their heads above water. The government had time to target this payment, but opted not to.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that low and middle income earners spend a disproportionate amount of their income on essentials like energy, rent, transport and food. It is therefore crucial that supports are targeted at these workers and families. In that regard, the \u20ac125 increase in the fuel allowance is welcome, but the government should have increased eligibility for the payment. As it stands, those in receipt of the Working Family Payment are among those who do not qualify.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 20pc cut to all public transport fares is also welcome. The Social Democrats had proposed reduced rates for off-peak travel to incentivise travel outside of peak times, when limited public transport capacity is under the most extreme pressure. An additional fare decrease for off-peak travel should be explored by the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cReduced caps on school transport schemes are positive, but the government should now confirm its intention to introduce a universal school bus scheme which would save parents time and money \u2013 and remove cars from roads at peak hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government wanted to make a significant difference to those on low and middle incomes, it had a number of options. Core social welfare rates, which have only been increased by a paltry \u20ac5 in the past three years, could have been increased; eligibility for the fuel allowance could have been extended; the Exceptional Needs Payment could have been doubled; the minimum wage could have been increased; a \u20ac300 refundable tax credit for those on incomes below \u20ac50,000 could have been introduced; and a ban on rent increases could have been announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cTinkering around the edges, without making targeted and substantive changes, will do little to help those struggling to survive in the long-term. It is regrettable the government has not taken this opportunity to be innovative and ambitious.\u201d<\/p>\n

10 February, 2022<\/p>\n

Ends<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tinkering around the edges will do little to help those struggling to survive in the long-term The government\u2019s response to the cost-of-living crisis is not sufficiently targeted at those who need help the most, according to Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy. \u201cThe vast bulk of the funding announced today is for a blanket \u20ac200 electricity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,88,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catherine-murphy","category-finance","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tinkering around the edges will do little to help those struggling to survive in the long-term The government\u2019s response to the cost-of-living crisis is not sufficiently targeted at those who need help the most, according to Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy. \u201cThe vast bulk of the funding announced today is for a blanket \u20ac200 electricity […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-10T20:30:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ZOO Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ZOO Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ZOO Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4aa25e1b0ecfe5e51a2ceab9a9006960\"},\"headline\":\"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-10T20:30:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":430,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Catherine Murphy\",\"Finance\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/\",\"name\":\"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition - Social Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-10T20:30:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\",\"name\":\"Social Democrats\",\"description\":\"Change Ireland for the better\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Social Democrats\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/SocDems-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/SocDems-logo.png\",\"width\":846,\"height\":358,\"caption\":\"The Social Democrats\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/socialdemocratsireland\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/SocDems\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4aa25e1b0ecfe5e51a2ceab9a9006960\",\"name\":\"ZOO Admin\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/ga\\\/author\\\/zoo-admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition - Social Democrats","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/","og_locale":"ga_IE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition - Social Democrats","og_description":"Tinkering around the edges will do little to help those struggling to survive in the long-term The government\u2019s response to the cost-of-living crisis is not sufficiently targeted at those who need help the most, according to Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy. \u201cThe vast bulk of the funding announced today is for a blanket \u20ac200 electricity […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/","og_site_name":"Social Democrats","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland","article_published_time":"2022-02-10T20:30:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ZOO Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SocDems","twitter_site":"@SocDems","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ZOO Admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/"},"author":{"name":"ZOO Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4aa25e1b0ecfe5e51a2ceab9a9006960"},"headline":"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition","datePublished":"2022-02-10T20:30:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/"},"wordCount":430,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg","articleSection":["Catherine Murphy","Finance","Press Release"],"inLanguage":"ga-IE"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/","name":"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition - Social Democrats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-10T20:30:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ga-IE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga-IE","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/4449-65-scaled-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-response-to-the-cost-of-living-crisis-lacks-ambition\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Government Response To The Cost-Of-Living Crisis Lacks Ambition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/","name":"Social Democrats","description":"Change Ireland for the better","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ga-IE"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization","name":"The Social Democrats","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga-IE","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/SocDems-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/SocDems-logo.png","width":846,"height":358,"caption":"The Social Democrats"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland","https:\/\/x.com\/SocDems"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4aa25e1b0ecfe5e51a2ceab9a9006960","name":"ZOO Admin","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/author\/zoo-admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}