CESCA’s mission as an alliance is to achieve social justice and equity for the communities we support and to champion the vital role of community and voluntary organisations in the city of Cork and where relevant regionally and nationally. This submission is based on our experience supporting communities on the margins of society and is underpinned by our values and goals as an Alliance.
We believe it is vital that the Government take urgent measures to begin to address issues of equality and sustainability in Budget 2023. In particular to:
1) Address poverty
2) Address homelessness
3) Ensure a sustainable community and voluntary sector
4) Ensure a just transition on climate change measures for all of society.
We acknowledge that longer term financial and policy planning is required to fully address some of the issues emerging for our communities. We are also acutely aware of the increasing financial pressures the Government and society at large is facing at this time. With the far-reaching impacts of the war in Ukraine, cost of living increases, remaining uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing concerns about the climate crisis, we are aware that Budget 2023 is one that will have many asks of it.
However, we believe that this makes it even more important that the most marginalised members of our society and those at the greatest risk of poverty are prioritised in this budget, to ensure that the current crisis being faced does not unduly fall to those who can least bear the burden.
You can read CESCA’s full Pre Budget 2023 Submission below.