Children's charity Barnardos has criticised a "failure" in Budget 2024 to match social welfare increases to inflation.
The Public Expenditure Minister has unveiled his budget package for next year, which will see increases across the board for those on social welfare.
Paschal Donohoe has announced that an additional bonus payment will be made to all those on social welfare in January.
There will also be double payments of Child Benefit before Christmas and a double Foster Care Benefit payment this year.
There will also be a once-off €400 payment to those who get Carers Allowance, Disability Allowance and others.
There is also to be a €450 disregard for the Carers Allowance means test.
There will also be a one-off double week Cost of Living support to be paid to all qualifying recipients.
A Christmas bonus is also to be paid in early December.
Among other measures announced are:
- €12 increase for anyone getting a weekly social protection payment
- €200 to be paid to Living Alone allowance recipients
- €300 lump sum payment for Fuel Allowance recipients
- Three energy credits of €150 each to be provided between the end of this year and April 2024
- Child Benefit will be expanded to include 18-year-olds in full-time education
The Free Travel Scheme is also to be extended to people who are certified medically unfit to drive.
Barnardos has said while once-off payments are helpful, they "don’t provide continued stability and leaves them back in the same position, once that money is spent".
"In the medium and longer term, the measures today could have gone further to reduce child poverty rates and improve the childhoods of many children across the country," the charity said.
"The targeted supports while welcome, were relatively limited, in particular for lone parents.
"The failure to match social welfare increases to inflation will mean more families could struggle next year as inflation continues and finances don’t stretch as far," it added.
Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly said she believes more could have been done.
"We welcome the measures introduced in Budget 2024 to help protect families in the immediate term," she said.
"They will go some way to reducing financial struggles families face and reduce some anxieties about providing children with basic essentials.
"More could have been done to look to the future, be more aspirational for children, particularly given the establishment of the child poverty and wellbeing programme and because childhood lasts a lifetime.
"We call on the child poverty and wellbeing programme to continue to work cross-departmentally to develop a plan to address medium and long-term measures that will impact child poverty," she added.
