Sir, – While consistent poverty rates have shown a slight decline since 2024, this masks increasing hardship among vulnerable groups, including lone-parent families, older people living alone, and households where a person has a disability.SVP, Ireland’s largest voluntary charitable organisation, has a vision for an Ireland where no person or family lives in persistent disadvantage or hardship. Against this backdrop, we are calling on the Government to ensure that Budget 2027 protects the most vulnerable households and provides income supports that reflect the real cost of living.Our volunteers give us unique insights through their visits to people in their homes. They report children living in cold houses, arriving at school hungry and tired, and missing out on the everyday activities that many of their peers take for granted. They also meet older people who are forced to cut back on heating and other essentials. In tandem, our recently published Minimum Essential Standard of Living research provides clear evidence of the gaps between household incomes and the real cost of meeting essential living needs. Budget 2027 must provide meaningful support for people struggling with rising costs. We are therefore calling for a €15 increase in weekly working-age social welfare payments, an €18 increase for children aged 12 years and over, and the extension of the Living Alone Allowance to all one-adult households with children. The budget should also introduce a Cost of Disability Payment, provide targeted energy supports and increase the National Minimum Wage from €14.15 to €15.40 per hour.These measures will make a tangible difference to the vulnerable households that SVP supports every day and will help ensure that everyone has the income they need to live with dignity. – Yours, etc,LOUISE BAYLISS,Head of social justice and policy, SVP,Dublin 1.