Young and old hit as Christmas bonus axed and under 20s payment halved
The measures sparked huge criticism from young and old alike, expressing fears that pensioners may struggle to pay for heat and light at Christmas while a generation of young jobseekers are forced to emigrate.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan linked the dumping of the traditional Christmas payment directly to the additional expenditure of more than e2.8 billion caused by the rise in joblessness since last December.
Making what he called “limited changes in eligibility to certain benefits”, he also reduced the jobseekers’ allowance for those aged under 20.
“Specifically, jobseekers’ allowance for the under 20s will be halved to e100 a week so as to incentivise the young unemployed to participate in training schemes,” he said.
Removing the Christmas bonus payment this year is expected to save e156m, while the slashing of the jobseekers’ allowance for the under 20s — those with children excepted — is to contribute to further savings in the order of e12m, and will affect new claimants from May 1 next.
However, Young Fine Gael president Barry Walsh said halving this allowance was a potential ticket to emigration, claiming it would affect 9,000 teenagers. He said the payment was currently made to approximately 11,000 people, yet the budget only provides for 2,100 extra places in back to work and re-training schemes for the same age bracket.
Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin said she was confident that there were sufficient training and education places available through bodies such as Fás and Youthreach, and that people who were unemployed aged 18 and 19 were likely to stay unemployed unless there was an incentive to undertake training or find work.
On the axing of the Christmas bonus she said: “I know it is going to be difficult for people but the alternative was to take an absolute cut from everybody.”
The bonus is unlikely to return next year or in 2011 and while the minister admitted it was “a tough choice” she hoped it could be reinstated in future.
She added that those feeling the pinch at Christmas could visit Community Welfare Officers to seek emergency payments. However, the officers recently claimed they were struggling to cope with their existing workload.
Máiréad Hayes, chief executive of the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, said many older people are dependent on the extra payment to help with their fuel, heating and lighting bills.
Age Action chief executive, Robin Webster, said: “While the basic social welfare payments to the poorest of older people will not be changed, the loss of the Christmas bonus equates to a 2% cut in their annual income and will come at an expensive time of the year for those older people who depend on it. This is regrettable.”
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