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Dear Reader,
October is always a busy month for those of us working in policy, with the Budget taking centre stage. ESRI researchers crunch the numbers and are some of the first to provide analytical insight into what the Budget will mean for household incomes. Overall, they found that policy changes in Budget 2027 and over the last seven budgets have, on average, compensated households for price and wage growth. In particular, the lowest income households have been most protected.
However, there remains more work to do on child poverty. The increases in the Child Support Payment and the Working Family Payment are well targeted but, when considered alongside the nominal freeze to Child Benefit, they result in little change to child poverty rates. Our research with Community Foundation Ireland found that a second tier of Child Benefit would be an effective way to meaningfully reduce the number of children experiencing poverty and deprivation.
Our recent research using Growing Up in Ireland data highlights the importance of tackling child poverty, finding that persistent child poverty can affect reading scores and lower educational aspirations among children. The home learning environment, participation in out-of-school activities and relationships between teachers and students play a key role.
Healthcare spending was another prominent issue in discussions around Budget 2027. Our recent report found that approximately one quarter of current government expenditure was allocated to health and social care in 2025, one of the highest proportions in the EU. With Ireland’s population growing and ageing, ensuring the financial sustainability of the health and social care system will be an increasingly important policy challenge.
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