Budget 2026: The Wheel Welcomes Government’s Ambition to Create ‘Vibrant, Inclusive and Sustainable Communities’; Detail Now Key to Turn Ambition into Reality
The Wheel, the national representative body for the community, voluntary and social enterprise sector, has welcomed funding increases announced within today’s Budget to support more cohesive communities across Ireland. But the Government must now provide more clarity on how it will achieve this ambition and particularly how it will support the voluntary organisations that actually deliver services at community level across the country.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers today committed to building ‘vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities’ across Ireland. The Wheel, as Ireland’s representative body for over 2,600 nonprofit organisations of all types and sizes, including most of Ireland’s leading charities, welcomed this ambition but questioned the lack of detail on delivery.
In particular, an increase of almost 20% to €3.8bn for disability services and a new dedicated unit in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality have the potential to address the long-running challenges for the sector. The Wheel expressed disappointment, however, at the failure to progress the cost of disability payment promised in the Programme for Government.
This follows calls from The Wheel on the Government to provide sustainable and permanent measures to support both individuals and the charity and community sector which provides front-line public services in health, housing, education and many other areas. The Wheel maintains that stronger and clearer commitments to this are needed as the detail of the Budget emerges.
Commenting, The Wheel’s CEO, Barry Dempsey, said: “Today’s significant increase in funding for disability services should help them to support the people who need it most. However, the failure to progress the cost of disability payment promised in the Programme for Government is a real disappointment which risks leaving many worse off.
“The new unit for disability service delivery within the Department also has the potential to revolutionise the way the State approaches this crucial part of society. We look forward to hearing more about how this unit will work and hope to work with the Department in the months ahead.
“On behalf of our 2,600 member organisations, we will push for further detail from the Government on how the positive headline figures it has announced today will translate into tangible improvement on the ground, and how we and our sector can support its ambition to improve communities across Ireland.”
Key measures announced by the Government today included:
- €3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services in 2026;
- A Christmas social welfare bonus and €10 per week increase for social protection recipients;
- €1.2 billion for public service pay agreement adjustments. These must include the community and voluntary sector;
- €1.5 billion for health, to hire more frontline staff and enhance the level of service provided;
- A further €1.4 billion to broaden supports in a range of other sectors;
- €1.3 billion is being provided to Tusla to provide for foster care, family support services and additional residential care placements.
The Wheel is calling for clarity on how the Government will deliver these services in partnership with voluntary organisations on the ground around the country.
Moreover, The Wheel has expressed disappointment that a number of other key areas represented by its members were not mentioned in today’s speeches – for example, homelessness was not mentioned.
Mr Dempsey continued: “Our sector has time and again shown its importance during times of uncertainty, in recent years providing critical frontline support to those affected by the impacts of Storm Éowyn. With uncertainty surging at home and abroad, now is the time to back the organisations which deliver these critical services.
“We also heard a lot from the Government about the importance of supporting 150,000 jobs in the hospitality sector. Yet there are no clear measures or commitments to support our sector, which employs almost double this number.
“As Ireland’s national representative association of more than 2,600 community and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises, The Wheel will be seeking clarity from the Government on how it plans to deliver on its promises and we hope to see further progress soon. For example, a further €1.2bn was announced to enhance public sector pay - and the community and voluntary sector must be included in these pay negotiations."
The Wheel will scrutinise the full Budget and associated Departmental plans over the coming days and continue to push for longer-term funding to support the sector, as set out as a key consideration in its pre-Budget submission.
POST-BUDGET WEBINAR, 14 OCTOBER
How did the Irish community and voluntary sector fare in Budget 2026?
In this members-only webinar, we’ll hear from Ber Grogan (Simon Communities of Ireland), Susanne Rogers (Social Justice Ireland), and Fleachta Phelan (Disability Federation of Ireland) on their reflections and analysis of Budget 2026 and what it means for community and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises.
The webinar will provide up-to-date analysis and interpretation, including key insights that will help Irish community and voluntary organisations keep one step ahead in 2026.