Budget equity - Protect the easy targets

IT IS alarming to think that 27,000 parents working for a living are so badly off that they are being forced to claim vital welfare payments simply to put food on the table and heat their homes.

There are least 60,000 children in the families concerned which find themselves in such a parlous state they have to rely on the Family Income Supplement (FIS) to make ends meet.

While welfare payments of this kind are absolutely vital, the really appalling vista is that so many families are now reliant on State support. Sadly, it reflects the plight of those on the margins of the Irish economy.

The clear message from this dire situation for Finance Minister Michael Noonan is that his Budget must focus on cutting out wastage in the public sector rather than hitting people who are barely surviving as it is.