Fine Gael is pushing back against weekly welfare hikes for jobseekers being the same as those for pensioners

Fine Gael is rallying against weekly welfare hikes for jobseekers to be the same as those for pensioners and the disabled in the Budget. The moves are likely to cause tensions with Coalition partner Fianna Fáil, which currently holds the Social Protection portfolio. Fine Gael is pushing back against what it sees a rewarding of people ‘who refuse to work’ by having the same weekly hikes in their welfare payments as those receiving the State pension or disability benefits. Nearly 48,000 people have been on the dole for a year or longer and the party believes they should receive lower weekly increases to incentivise them to work. Chair of the Oireachtas Social Protection Committee TD John Paul O’Shea questioned why so many people are out of work when businesses are struggling with staff shortages.