Budget 2014 - Hardest hit on margins of society

There is no escaping the fact that two of the more vulnerable segments of Irish society — elderly citizens in their twilight years and jobless young people seeking work — have been targeted by Fine Gael and Labour in the 2014 budget.

As the dust settles, it is not surprising that government backbenchers are under pressure trying to explain the warped reasoning behind a raft of cuts, particularly the decision to deprive elderly people of the telephone allowance and the ongoing withdrawal of medical cards, an issue that simply refuses to go away.

The telephone plays an important role in providing security cover for elderly people living alone in isolated areas. Thus the cost in social and safety terms of removing the allowance will far outweigh the monetary savings of this mean-spirited move.

Let us hope that when James Reilly’s Department of Health comes under close scrutiny by the departments of the Taoiseach and public expenditure, the public will learn why discretionary medical cards are being taken from young and old alike by the HSE. In certain cases of hardship or grave medical need, it is absolutely impossible to justify their withdrawal on any grounds.

Messrs Howlin and Noonan were left in no doubt about this grave injustice yesterday when they faced the public during RTÉ’s budget phone-in. The sheer anxiety in the voices of the callers was palpable. Among them was a mother of two children whose medical cards have been withdrawn. Both have cerebral palsy. One is quadriplegic and paralysed from the neck down. It made painful listening as the ministers tried but failed to defend the indefensible.

Clearly, there are more people at work than this time last year. But considering how many of those now seeking work are highly qualified, the idea of putting them off the live register and onto courses is a cynical ploy. The Government will find it hard to refute charges of massaging the jobless figures and operating a forced emigration policy for young people.

Invariably, as in every budget, the devil is in the detail. A penetrating analysis of the document by Social Justice Ireland has raised pointed questions about a hidden detail the Government has quietly kept up its sleeve. A footnote which could easily be overlooked reveals that a further adjustment of €600m will come from what the Government describes as “additional resources and savings elsewhere”.

That bodes ill for elements of the economy yet to be identified. While the chairman of the think-tank, Fr Sean Healy, welcomes the maintenance of core welfare rates, free GP care for all under sixes, and the extra €20m for mental health services, his claim that vulnerable people are being targeted is beyond denial. Similarly, his criticism of the lack of a detailed explanation as to where the €600m will come from is entirely warranted.

In the crossfire of yesterday’s post-budget exchanges, the level of oratory in Dáil debate plumbed new depths as Taoiseach Enda Kenny described Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin’s line of criticism as “opportunistic blather” while he in turn accused the Government of perpetrating the “big lie” by claiming older people were not affected by the measures.

Meanwhile, as TDs face a growing avalanche of public concern, there is no denying that those hardest hit by this austerity budget are people on the fringes of society.