The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has said that the Government must end “gimmicks and giveaways” and deliver a workers' budget, as part of its pre-Budget submission.
Congress said that recent Budgets have been marked by costly economic interventions that delivered little for workers and the average working family, and only served to undermine public finances.With many people still suffering the effects of high inflation and a cost of living crisis, as well as deficits in infrastructure, Congress stated that Government must now invest in the workers that collectively make up the economy.
The union umbrella group is calling for Budget 2027 to be a “workers' budget”, that includes:
- Double indexation of the income tax system in Budget 2027 to compensate workers the absence of a tax package for PAYE workers in Budget 2026.
- A €1 increase in the National Minimum Wage from January 2027 to deliver the promised Living Wage for low paid workers.
- Reductions in the cost of using essential public services, including reducing the cost of significant progress on delivering the promised €200 a month childcare.
- An end to the payment cap freeze on pay-related jobseeker’s benefit and a timeline for introducing the promised pay-related parent’s benefit.
- A second tier of child benefit for low-income families, in and out of work.
- Increased investment in public transport and green energy infrastructure, including targeted supports during winter where necessary.
The pre-Budget submission also notes that Government needs plan for fiscal sustainability in the years and decades ahead. Recent budget decisions like the cut to VAT for hospitality business owners, and the mooted Budget proposals to cut inheritance tax or capital gains tax, show a remarkable short-sightedness.
Congress is urging Government to broaden the tax base in line with recommendations from the Commission on Taxation and Welfare. This would include the gradual elimination of CAT business and agriculture reliefs and the introduction of a Site Valuation Tax.
Commenting on the pre-Budget submission, Congress General Secretary Owen Reidy said:
"In recent years, time and again the Government has chosen costly short-term giveaways for those who shout the loudest. Workers have seen billions go towards VAT cuts and tax breaks that do little for them and little to secure their future, all while their pay packets have to stretch further and further.
"This Budget is a chance for Government to choose a different path. That means a Budget that broadens the tax base, invests in the ordinary PAYE worker and public services, and ensures Government is doing what it can to support workers’ standard of living.
"We need to see double indexation of the tax system to make up for the failure to index it last year, a meaningful increase in the minimum wage, and real action to reduce child poverty. We need investment in the public services and infrastructure that workers rely on every day, from childcare to public transport to energy.
"If the Government is serious about workers' living standards, and about the long-term health of the public finances, it has to end the gimmicks and give-aways, and invest in the workers that make this country run."
The full pre-Budget submission is available here.
