Finance « Thurles Information

March 2023 €200 Energy Credit To Proceed Despite Call By European Central Bank To Desist.

The current roll-out, by the Irish Government, of €200 energy credits for March is now expected to proceed, despite instructions from the European Central Bank (ECB), for Ireland to roll back cost-of-living supports.

An Tánaiste, Mr Micheál Martin has stated that the call by ECB boss, Ms Christine Lagarde, will not affect the March payment, same the third payment since October last, but said that the Government must look again to intervene next winter, should inflation rates require further intervention.

Mr Martin confirmed that the Finance Minister, Mr Michael McGrath, together with Public Expenditure Minister, Mr Paschal Donohoe are both working on recommendations to place before all three party leaders, to discuss and approve in the coming days, on the expiry dates at the end of February, for all cost-of-living measures put in place, just last year.

He further confirmed that there would not be a ‘cliff edge’ ending to the measures, but government would continue to examine all past cost-of-living evulations; to determine which ones if any should be continued, while keeping an eye on the full year, including the coming winter of 2023.

While calling on energy companies to pass on lower costs to consumers; the Finance Minister Mr McGrath pointed out that while he would consider calls by the ECB to roll back cost-of-living supports, any extension of future measures would remain a national decision.

Neglect Of Thurles Town Continues.

It was Charles Dickens’s character Wilkins Micawber who warned eloquently of debt’s downside.

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.”

For tourists headed southwards into Thurles this coming holiday season, the pictures shown here, on left and right of this text, are enough to encourage the visitor to quickly move elsewhere, rather than “Dwell A While” as our town website encourages.

This road, highlighted in the pictures, is the N62, a busy national secondary route in Co. Tipperary, which forms a junction with the M7 motorway, south of Roscrea, latter, unlike Thurles, an acknowledged heritage town, which attracts a large amount of both domestic and foreign tourism.

While our two resident politicians and Municipal District councillors and Municipal District officials continuously regurgitate details learned of a few new funded projects; maintenance of past projects are forgotten and permitted to decay.

The above permitted dereliction and neglect within the town, is evidence of poor quality administration, and once again begs the question amongst residents; “What do we get in return for our Local Property Tax payments, not to mention Rates and Vehicle Parking Charges?”

More on this and the continued waste of taxpayer’s funds, by Tipperary Co. Council, in the coming days.

Three Tipperary Meat Processing Plants Approved For Exports Of Beef To China.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr Charlie McConalogue, has announced the resumption of Irish beef exports to China. Stakeholders in the industry have obviously welcoming this development, since the Chinese market previously imported Irish beef to the tune of €96 million in 2019.

Chinese buyers of Irish beef have placed orders with a number of processors and cattle eligible for export to China have been processed in a number of facilities throughout Ireland as of Friday, last January 27th 2023.

In total twenty four Irish sites are currently listed on the China Imported Food Enterprise Registration (CIFER) website, each approved to export beef to China, with some of these sites slaughtering cattle while other sites store or process the beef.

The Irish Meat Processors in Co. Tipperary who have been approved for the export of beef to China are as follows:

ABP Cahir Kilcommon, Cahir, Co. Tipperary.
ABP Nenagh Grange, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.
Ashbourne Meat Processors (Roscrea) Castleholding, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary.

Irish beef exports to China and including Hong Kong, latter which operates as a special administrative region with different market access rules, were worth €45 million in 2020, down from exports of €96 million in 2019. Readers will remember that in May 2020, Irish beef shipments to China were suspended following the confirmation of an isolated case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or referred to as ‘Mad Cow Disease,’ a neurological disorder of cattle.
Note: This isolated case of BSE did not enter the food chain and posed no risk to human health. Nevertheless, beef exports to China were immediately suspended at the time, purely as a precautionary measure, and in line with the bilateral protocol on trade agreed with the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).

Good New Year News For Persons On Social Welfare.

People on social welfare will be somewhat financially better off, following new improvements, secured as part of Budget 2023, announced today; same to take effect from Sunday January 1st 2023, onwards.

€12 increase in weekly payments – largest increase in over a decade.
Largest ever expansion of the Fuel Allowance scheme.
€40 per week increase in Working Family Payment thresholds.
€25 per week increase in earnings disregards for people with disabilities.
€20.50 increase in the monthly rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance.

The Fine Gael Minister for Social Protection, Mrs Heather Humphreys announced the following changes today.

[Among the improvements coming into effect are across-the-board increases in weekly payments which will benefit over 1.5 million people.
The changes also include the largest ever expansion of the Fuel Allowance scheme and significant improvements to the Working Family Payment.]

Among the measures coming into effect in January are:

A 12 euro increase in the maximum rate of all core weekly payments – benefitting over 1.5 million people.
Largest ever expansion of the Fuel Allowance scheme which will see an estimated 81,000 additional households qualify for the payment for the first time.
Working Family Payment thresholds to increase by €40 per week for all family sizes.
A €25 increase, from €140 to €165, in the weekly earnings disregard (that is income discounted in the means test) for recipients of the Disability Allowance and Blind Pension.
An increase of €20.50 in the monthly rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance bringing the payment to €330 per month. This increase is to support people who play a valuable role in Irish society – parents or guardians who look after a child with a severe disability.
A €2 increase in payments in respect of children of social welfare recipients, bringing the payment to €42 per week for children under 12 and €50 per week for children aged 12 and over.
Farming families – a doubling in the amount of income that can be derived from agri-environmental schemes (e.g., Glas, ACRES) and counted in assessing means for the Farm Assist scheme. As a result of this measure, €5,000 can now be disregarded.
Increase in earnings attracting the lower Employer PRSI rate. in line with increase in the national minimum wage which supports employment.

These measures are on top of the eight lump payments – already paid in October, November and December – that Minister Humphreys secured as part of Budget 2023 to assist families with the cost of living.

Electric Ireland Offers €50 Credit To Residential Electricity Customers.

With electricity prices having skyrocketed this year out of all proportion, partially due to the war in Ukraine, Electric Ireland have decided forego a fraction of their excessive profits accumulated from its residential electricity business, offering a €50 credit to their residential electricity customers.

The credit will apply to both Pay As You Go (PAYG) and Credit Meter customers with effect from tomorrow, December 20th.

The credit will be applied to PAYG accounts before December 24th, while credit meter customers will have it applied to their next bill.

The company also confirmed it will increase its hardship fund by €2 million, bringing its total to €5 million.

Electric Ireland’s executive director Mr Pat Fenlon said the company is “acutely aware of the pressures that customers face this winter”, adding the hardship fund “will help ensure the fund is accessible to those most in need of support, during the winter months”.

Meanwhile, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has extended the moratorium on disconnections for non-payment of energy bills, with vulnerable customers unable to be disconnected between October 2022 and March 2023.