In this issue:
Young workers’ protest against social welfare cuts at Dáil
SIPTU President says Budget 2014 requires much renovation
SIPTU Dublin bus drivers to vote on latest proposals next week
Permanent liquidator expected to be appointed to Andersen Ireland Ltd on Monday
SIPTU Home Helps meeting in Galway to discuss new contracts
Special Report
Jack O’Connor states that harsh budget will provoke private sector pay demands
Patricia King tells Conference that 'establishment' will resist collective bargaining
RMT leader Bob Crow addresses Conference
Irish Senior Citizens Parliament Protest
Sinn Féin Mansion House Event
Dublin Lockout – Impact and Objects
SIPTU welcomes Review of Joint Labour Committees
The 1913 Lockout Tapestry
Defending the Public University
DCU is a place of learning not just enterprise
Jack O'Connor calls for Social Solidarity to underpin the rebuilding of the Republic, One Hundred Years on
SIPTU members regret unavailability of some Dublin Fine Gael TDs to discuss budget proposals
Thirty-Seventh Countess Markievicz Memorial Lecture
Successful Fair Hotels Expo held in Liberty Hall
European Social Justice Award Goes to Irish Campaigners
100th Anniversary Wreath Laying Ceremony
End of an Era
Lockout Tapestry and trade union banners exhibition in Dublin
100th Anniversary of the Arrival of the SS Hare Food Ship in Dublin
The New Theatre presents 1913 LOCKOUT
Féile na Samhna
Budget unfairly hits young and old
Zero-hours Contracts
CityWide
The Risen People
TASC is recruiting!
Exhibition
Larkin Credit Union
Fair Hotels
SIPTU Membership Services
Fair Hotel
SIPTU Basic English Scheme
Supporting Quality
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Budget unfairly hits young and old

Budget 2014 spared the majority of working people from direct cuts to their income and made some effort to stimulate the economy through capital investment, although nowhere near what is required to tackle the jobs crisis.

However, it singled out again those most vulnerable in society, in particular the older generation and new entrants to the jobs market.

The cut in the telephone allowance for elderly people is both harsh and unnecessary and will merely create unwarranted anxiety for those living alone while the review of medical card entitlements will invariably hurt those who most depend on State care.

The reduction in jobseeker payments to those under 26 is also unfair and discriminatory and ignores the reality that young people are desperately seeking employment in an economy where decent new jobs are scarce.

New claimants should not have their job seekers allowance reduced unless they had turned down a decent job or good quality training or apprenticeship. 

Many of our youth will interpret the reduction in their basic income from €144 to £100 per week as an encouragement to leave the country as many in the current and previous generations were forced to do.

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