Tax cuts helping low paid

Retired salesman Mr Joe Grehan's (86) loyalties are torn between the two causes he is devoted to - the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) and the developing world.

While he is pleased by the social welfare increases that the SVP had sought in their pre-Budget statement, he would rather see some of that money go towards meeting the Government's earlier promise of devoting 0.7 per cent of gross national product to overseas aid by 2007.

"To be honest, anything that helps the poor is fantastic. I sometimes feel that the joy I get from working with the SVP far outweighs the work I put in, so I'm delighted to see their demands met," he said.

"I am also particularly pleased by the efforts to fight family poverty through the groups MABS [ Money Advice and Budgeting Service], Combat Poverty and Comhairle. The work that MABS does is fantastic because it keeps people out of the hands of the moneylenders."

Joe also welcomes the tax cuts laid out in the Budget.

"Any tax breaks must benefit the underprivileged. It is a scandal to see the rich benefit when the poor are suffering."

The once-off World Aids Day payment (€0.5m to projects involved in the National Aids Strategy) is a "step in the right direction", according to Joe, but more needs to be done.

"It's a wonderful move but the fact remains that there is still a lot of work to do for our brothers and sisters in the developing world.

"We will soon see whether the move by the Government to include those left out by society will continue.

"I am a big supporter of Cori's Fr Seán Healy and I think he was right when he said this morning: 'We will begin to see this afternoon whether the Government is genuine or not about its shift towards social inclusion'."