Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

A total of €30 million is expected to be saved on child benefit as a result of the impact of net outward migration. Special control measures were introduced last year but we would like to ensure child benefit does not continue to be paid to parents who are no longer in the State. The certification process will be enhanced this year with non-EU recipients being required to certify their continued presence in the State every three months on the same basis as EU workers. Non-EU recipients currently certify every six months.

We also expect to save an additional €52 million by intensifying anti-fraud activity on the jobseeker's schemes. Recent initiatives involving the intensive deployment of inspectors on home visits in the north east, Galway and Athlone achieved savings of between 11% and 23% in all cases investigated. We will extend this activity to other areas. The public has been particularly helpful in providing information, which has enabled us to crack down on fraud.

I refer to welfare rates. The October budget provided for increases of between 3% and 3.8% in the basic payment rates, which equate to an increase of €7 per week in some cases. At that point, the expected rate of inflation for 2009 was 2.5%. This inflation forecast has, however, not been realised and, instead, deflation of almost 4% is anticipated. With social welfare recipients collecting between 3% and 3.8% more in their weekly payments and prices having fallen in recent months, the value of their money is better in real terms than it was last year. The Government and I appreciate that living on welfare payments is never easy and that it is particularly difficult for unemployed people who are used to having a much higher level of income and who have the outgoings to reflect that.

In deciding on how to achieve savings of €300 million in the welfare budget, there were no easy options. Everything had to be considered, including a cut in the weekly rates of payments to all welfare recipients. This would have meant people signing on who would have expected €204 a week would receive less than that and taking money off every social welfare recipient immediately. Every recipient does not qualify for the Christmas bonus. It would also have meant a great deal of distress for older people, particularly pensioners, because all welfare books would have had to be recalled, which would have caused them many problems, as the current rate would have to be changed.

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