A claim by the CORI (Conference of Religious in Ireland) Justice Commission that the new partnership programme includes significant commitments on social welfare has been challenged by the Simon Communities.
CORI says social welfare commitments in the programme, Sustaining Progress, will be worth €2.5 billion over the next three budgets. In a statement yesterday, however, the Simon Communities of Ireland said it was "extremely hard" to see how the programme could be seen to guarantee meaningful social welfare increases.
CORI's analysis, published earlier this week, said one of the few specific commitments in the programme would see a reversal of the "thrust" of the recent Budget on social welfare increases.
In the Budget, the lowest social welfare rates were increased by €6 per week by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy. In Sustaining Progress, however, the Government had restated its commitment to increase the lowest rate of social welfare to €150 a week, in 2002 terms, by 2007.
It had also agreed to increase the rates during the three-year term of the agreement, so the 2007 target could be met, CORI said.
It claimed that in practice, this meant the lowest social welfare payment for a single person would rise by €15 a week in 2004, by €17 a week in 2005, by €20 a week in 2006 and by €22.80 in 2007.
Although their response did not refer directly to CORI, the Simon Communities said some commentators had argued that the programme guaranteed social welfare increases.
Ms Noeleen Hartigan, Simon's social policy and research co-ordinator, said there was no commitment to additional resources for social welfare payments.
The recent Budget, she said, was the first after the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS) target was set and should have begun the process of delivering the Government's commitment.
However, the €6 increase was just 30 cent ahead of inflation and, given other cost of living increases, the real value of social welfare payments had gone down.
Meanwhile, the State's largest public sector union, IMPACT, is to advise its 49,000 members to support the new agreement.
The union's central executive committee unanimously agreed yesterday to recommend acceptance of the deal. Members will start balloting next week. When that is completed the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will decide whether to sign up to the agreement at a special delegate conference on March 26th.
Mr Peter McLoone, IMPACT's general secretary, said the union backed the programme because it would bring full payment of the benchmarking pay rises, as well as basic cost-of-living increases.
The average public servant, he said, would get pay increases of 15.9 per cent under the deal.
Mr McLoone said the inflation forecast for the lifetime of the 18-month pay deal was 6.25 per cent. "On this basis, the cost of living increase of seven per cent will mean a real increase in living standards, albeit small, against a very difficult budgetary and economic backdrop."
