A Future We Can Afford – Labour’s alternative budget for a fairer, more sustainable Ireland
A Future We Can Afford - Labour's alternative budget for a fairer, more sustainable Ireland - The Labour Party
- €400 Energy Credits and one million plug-in solar units to drive down household energy bills
- Index tax bands and credits and deliver a fair public sector pay deal
- Declare war on child poverty with a new second tier Child Benefit
The Labour Party published its Alternative Budget today, A Future We Can Afford, which sets out a different path for Ireland, one that puts an emphasis on driving down energy bills in the immediate and long-term, that protects incomes and that declares war on child poverty.
Speaking during the launch, Labour’s Finance spokesperson Ged Nash TD called out Fine Gael and Fianna Fail’s failure to address structural problems – sub-par public investment, a failure to ramp up infrastructure when it was affordable to do so, poor delivery of retrofitting and renewables and a hardening of poverty and inequality.
Deputy Nash challenged Government to do better with the resources available to it.
Deputy Nash said:
“First, we want to drive down energy bills while accelerating Ireland’s transition to a sustainable energy future.Families should not be struggling to heat their homes while energy companies make windfall profits. Labour would slap a windfall tax on these companies and data centres to fund energy credits for households struggling this winter.
“Labour is proposing targeted energy credits of €400 to over 1.2 million households with incomes under €80,000; and a €500mn investment in free plug-in solar rollout to cut household bills and remove the upfront barrier to household solar.
“Our aim with plug-in solar is to permanently cut electricity bills by an estimated €100-150 a year.
“Democratising access to renewable energy is key is we are serious about driving down bills and mainstreaming a shift away from expensive fossil fuels.
“Our energy package also includes a €7.50/wk increase in the fuel allowance, which should also be extended by four weeks again.”
Labour’s Budget would protect incomes with Nash calling out the failure of Government to protect people’s hard earned wages in recent years:
“We want to ensure that public sector and PAYE workers get a fair deal.
“Work should pay, and a pay rise should improve living standards. Labour’s Budget protects incomes from rising prices through the PAYE system.
“Indexing income tax and USC credits and bands is the obvious way to provide some relief to workers. Government missed the opportunity to do this last year and it must right this wrong in Budget 2027.
“It would put over €530 back in the pockets of a single worker earning a wage of €50,000.
“Our plan also commit over €1.15bn to fund a new public sector pay deal in 2027. This is equivalent to phased pay increases of 4% next year, worth a further €20 per week after tax to someone earning €50,000.
“Weekly welfare rates must also be protected and Labour would provide a €15 weekly increase to all weekly payments.
“We would also introduce a €30 per week Cost of Disability Allowance (costing almost €400mn) and increase the Living Alone Allowance by €5 per week, a measure that has not seen an increase in over 5 years.
“Those who are renting in Ireland continue to pay above the odds so to give renters a break Labour would double the Rent Tax Credit to €2,000.
“Commuters have been utterly left behind by this Government. Our Budget provides funding to stop the increase in public transport fares whilst also continuing to invest in the expansion of the transport infrastructure nationwide.”
Since 2018, under the watch of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, child poverty has risen sharply.
Research published by the ESRI in September showed that a shocking 200,000 children are living in households below the poverty line.
Labour’s Alternative Budget addresses this by declaring war on child poverty.
Nash said:
“Thirdly, we want to make the eradication of child poverty a national priority. No child should grow up in poverty in a country as wealthy as Ireland. Labour would commit €770mn to end it.
“Labour’s proposed second tier of Child Benefit would target families on lower incomes to provide direct support to children who need it most.
“Steps must be taken to reduce the costs of childhood overall. Our proposals pair these income supports with the expansion of public services including the expansion of the free GP care scheme to all children aged 8-12 years old and further expansion to school meals.
“Making education genuinely free for all is also a key ambition of the Labour Party. Our proposals would cut the cost of education through a universal Back to School clothing and footwear allowance at a cost of €180mn, as well as reversing the fee increases on State exams and school transport.”
Concluding, Nash said:
“The Government now has a choice: continue with a budget shaped by the demands of sector interests, or choose a fairer future for working people, for families and for children.
“We need to move away from appeasing the voices of those who shout loudest, the vested and sectoral interests, towards a budget that puts people first.
“A budget that delivers lower energy bills, protects incomes and tackles child poverty.
“That is the future Labour is offering – a future we can afford, a future that is fair.”
ENDS
Document is available at this link: https://labour.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Labour-Alternative-Budget-2027.pdf