Greens hail Budget focused on families, children and the environment
The Green Party today (October 1) hailed another Budget focused on improving the lives of our children, families and the environment while also planning and providing for the future.
The Green Party-inspired baby boost will see €420 paid to new mothers on the birth of their child from January. That comes on top of a €15 increase to child benefit and two double child benefit payments before Christmas worth €560. Children under-nine will also get free public transport and all primary school children will receive hot school meals every day for the first time. Leaving Certificate students will meanwhile benefit from free school books and the abolition of fees to sit the exams. Students in third-level will see the cost of fees reduced and the quality of their education improved. Other family measures include increased access to IVF and free HRT.
The strong focus on families means that this will be the fifth Budget in a row to be progressive. Every budget since the Green Party took office more than four years ago has been aimed at making Ireland a fairer and more progressive country by supporting the people who need it most. This year is no exception.
Green measures to protect the environment include more local bus routes and increased funding for home insulation to help homeowners to lower their fuel bills. The popular funding for warmer homes scheme will be increased by €90m while the scheme for low-income households will have a budget of €240m or ten times higher than it was in 2020. This means more funding than ever will be available to make homes warmer, healthier, more comfortable and less expensive to heat. Other improvements in this area include a reduction on the VAT charged on heat pumps and energy credits worth €250 for everybody who pays electricity bills.
Turning to the long-term, Budget 2025 lays the foundations for massive investment in public transport, the national grid, water and housing. Both the proceeds of the sale of AIB shares and the money from the Apple judgement will be used to improve the country’s infrastructure and ensure that we are ready for a rising population and future energy shocks. This will improve services for existing homes and businesses and make it possible to build more homes in the right places across the country.
Other Green measures include a €15m increase for the National Parks and Wildlife Service which is now 170% better funded than it was in 2020. There will be a jump of €10m to €63m to help organic farmers and an extra €60m for the ACRES scheme which helps 55,000 farmers to improve biodiversity.
Another progressive measure introduced by the Budget is the land hoarder’s tax to discourage land hoarding by developers of land that is serviced and ready to be used for new homes. The ground-breaking Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme received a boost with a further allocation of €35 million while the Arts Council received record funding of €140m. Funding for the Gaeltacht and the Irish language has increased, with the budget for TG4 increasing by 62% since 2020, to €60 million.
