Clare SVP Appeals For Children To Be Primary Focus Of Budget 2025

The Clare branch President of Saint Vincent De Paul is appealing to the Government to place children front and centre of Budget 2025.

The organisation has launched its pre-budget submission which it says "focuses on the key areas that we believe will have the biggest impact of the lives of people experiencing poverty, social exclusion, and lost potential".

The Society of Saint Vincent De Paul predicts this year will be the first in which it'll receive quarter of a million calls.

Last year in Clare alone, 5,000 calls were made to the organisation from over 1,500 households seeking support and guidance.

SVP's pre-budget submission contains 16 key recommendations, many of which have a particular focus on improving the lives of children.

The recommendations include increasing core social welfare rates by €20, improving access to childcare for low income families and giving every child in homelessness access to a support worker.

Other proposed measures are extending the free schoolbooks scheme to senior cycle, increasing the capitation grant by 30%, expanding the fuel allowance to low income families and investing in in-school therapy supports for children with additional needs.

In the "SVP Vision For 2030" - which envisions an Ireland where "everyone is guaranteed an adequate income and can access all the services they need to thrive" - the organisation proposes creating a ringfenced children's budget.

President of the Clare branch of Saint Vincent De Paul Denis Carty believes the State can no longer ignore the voices of families struggling to give children a good quality of life.