Budget 2025: The Wheel Calls for a Long-Term Strategy Against Polarisation, Inequality, and Social Isolation
The Wheel, Ireland’s national association of charities, has called on the Government to develop a long-term, holistic strategy to combat the growing issues of polarisation, inequality, and social isolation in communities. This was part of the organisation’s launch of its pre-budget submission The Future is Community on 13 June in Dublin.
Representing over 2,400 charities and community groups, The Wheel emphasised the necessity of harnessing the collective experience of Ireland’s 35,000 charities, community groups, and social enterprises to promote social cohesion. “The role and breadth of Ireland’s not-for-profit sector is not widely understood,” according to Colette Bennett, Director of Advocacy and Research. “While the sector tends to be associated with disability services and alleviation of poverty, it also includes sports and youth clubs, arts organisations, and tidy towns committees. It reaches into people’s lives in ways they don’t always recognise, and plays a huge part in ensuring that our communities are happy, healthy, and inclusive.”
Bennett said that Budget 2025 should not lose focus on Ireland’s more vulnerable people and the supports and services that they rely on – services that are frequently provided by community and voluntary organisations, charities, and social enterprises.
“These organisations provide healthcare, home care, disability supports, and mental health services, among many other things,” he said. ‘They're a lifeline for large numbers of older people, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, lone parents, and so many more. These services are essential parts of our society, not optional ones, and they need adequate resources to make sure that people can continue to use them. The resources are simply not in place right now, and many organisations are in crisis because of it.”
Among the proposals included in The Future is Community are:
- Normalise the provision of multi-annual funding arrangements with the sector, allowing essential services to plan into the future.
- Provide a pathway to pay parity for staff in Section 39/56/10/40-funded organisations (and other State-funded services), and an increase in funding to support employer salary and non-salary core costs.
- Establish a €10 million fund for organisations providing tailored supports to marginalised communities.
- Invest €500,000 in targeted civic participation activation measures in areas that are under-represented in civic dialogue to ensure all voices are heard.
Ireland’s charities directly and indirectly employ over 321,000 people, mobilise over 1 million volunteers, and spend over €31bn every year. We are critical to society, the economy, and sustainability.