Senior Support: Charities warn Budget fails to protect older people

Two of Ireland’s leading charities which support older people have warned that Budget 2026 falls short in protecting pensioners from poverty and rising living costs, despite modest increases in the state pension and fuel allowance.

Both ALONE and Age Action expressed disappointment that targeted measures for older adults were largely absent from this year’s budget.

According to ALONE, many of the older people it supports are already €300 worse off compared to last year. While welcoming increases in the housing adaptation grants and home care hours, ALONE Chief Executive Seán Moynihan said these improvements do little to address the daily financial pressures faced by older people living alone.

“This was always going to be a tough budget,” Moynihan said. “We welcome the increases in housing adaptation grants, which will go some way towards allowing people to age at home safely and comfortably. We also welcome the increase in home care hours to 1.7m but await exact funding details. We will analyse the increased health investments further to gauge the impact on older people also.”

Figures from the CSO highlight the growing vulnerability of Ireland’s ageing population. Without last year’s one-off supports from the Government, 45.6% of older people living alone would have been at risk of poverty, while 62% of older people surveyed by ALONE reported that the rising cost of living had negatively affected their financial situation.

Moynihan also criticised the Government’s failure to benchmark the state pension, something that has been promised for nearly a decade. “The Government’s next Roadmap for Social Inclusion must include not just a commitment to benchmarking the pension but a timeline and legislative framework for this essential measure,” he said.

Similarly, Age Action expressed concern that the government had not followed through on commitments to replace last year’s one-off supports with permanent and targeted measures. The organisation’s Head of Advocacy and Public Affairs, Camille Loftus, said the €10 weekly pension increase falls short of the Pensions Commission’s benchmark of 34% of average wages and does little to ease the pressure on older households.

“Inflation may have fallen, but prices have not,” Loftus said. “Older people are more likely to live in older, poorly insulated homes with inefficient heating systems. Age Action called for an energy guarantee for older people, a support to take account of both the energy efficiency of the home, as well as energy prices: a targeted and efficient way of directing support to those who need it most.

“The €5 increase in Fuel Allowance is an inadequate substitute for an energy guarantee for older people. It's not enough to cover costs, fewer than 3 in 10 State Pension recipients qualify for it, and it doesn’t take account of the higher energy costs many older people face. There are more than 860,000 people aged 65 and older in Ireland; Budget 2026 appears to have forgotten about them,” she added.