Bringing our Members’ Priorities to Government

Posted on
10 Jul 2025
by Rob Brown

This Wednesday, 9 July, our Policy Officer Lily Power and Public Affairs Consultant John Gallagher presented our Pre-Budget 2026 Submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee for Social Protection, Rural and Community Development, alongside Ber Grogan of Simon Communities of Ireland and Michelle Murphy of Social Justice Ireland. 

In our opening statement, Lily focused on the immense value produced by the community and voluntary, charity, and social enterprise sector, as well as the major challenges currently facing our members. 

She explained the vital role played by community organisations in responding to national and international crises and outlined for the committee the fundamental importance of the “hidden infrastructure" of our sector, on which the State relies so heavily to provide essential public services and supports. 

Most importantly, Lily’s address highlighted our members’ priorities for Budget 2026, which we’ve once again gathered through several key member engagements throughout the first half of this the year.  

These include, among others:  

  • the sustainability of the sector; 

  • pay parity issues;  

  • the need for multiannual funding;  

  • the needs of children and families;  

  • addressing poverty; and,  

  • improving access to physical and mental health services, safety, and housing, particularly for vulnerable groups. 

Many of these issues come under the remit of the Committee’s work and we were pleased to be able to make a clear and convincing case for the many ways that Government can support organisations in enabling our communities to respond to and thrive in the face of future crises. 

Committee members from various parties were present and asked several questions related to our opening statement and pre-Budget submission. During a discussion on multiannual funding and the value it would bring to organisations providing services on behalf of the state, we emphasised that the Department of Expenditure and Reform uses a multiannual approach to fund public services in areas such as health and social care, but does not extend this approach to voluntary organisations providing the same services. 

The committee also raised the issue of mergers within the sector. While we assured the committee that many organisations would welcome these, as well as access to shared services utilities, we were also keen to point out that an essential element in this process would be the provision of state support to enable efficient and well-governed mergers, if service users are to remain unaffected. 

Social Justice Ireland and Simon Communities of Ireland also responded to questions on rising child poverty rates, one-off payments, and benchmarking social welfare rates. 

We were very pleased to be given the opportunity to bring our members’ Budget 2026 priorities to Government, and we look forward to engaging further with the Committee in the following weeks. 
 


Read The Wheel’s Pre-Budget Submission