Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"— acknowledges that in the context of very tough decisions having to be made across the whole range of Government expenditure, the provision of €21.3 billion for social welfare services in 2009 – 20% more than the amount spent in 2008 – is a clear demonstration of the Government's commitment to protecting the vulnerable and providing income support to the increasing numbers of people who are losing their jobs;

— notes that both taxes and borrowing had to be increased in the Budget to pay for rising welfare expenditure in 2009;

— further notes that over the past decade there have been very significant increases in welfare payments with child benefit increasing from €44 to €166 per month; State contributory pension increasing from €113 to more than €230 per week and the weekly rate of jobseeker's allowance being raised from €93 to €204 per week;

— notes that payment of a 100% bonus in 2009 would cost in the region of €223 million;

— acknowledges that in deciding on where to achieve savings in welfare expenditure, there were no easy options and that everything had to be considered – including a cut in the weekly rates of payments to all welfare recipients which the Government avoided;

— notes that the October budget provided for increases of between 3% and 3.8% in the basic payment rates and that the inflation forecast has changed substantially since then, with a 4% drop in the Consumer Price Index now expected in 2009; and

— appreciates that the decision not to pay a Christmas bonus in 2009 will be difficult for people but believes that savings in other areas of welfare expenditure could have caused greater hardship;

acknowledges that the Government will:

— reconsider the payment of the Christmas bonus as soon as we are out of the current economic situation;

— prioritise control activities to reduce the incidences of social welfare fraud to effect savings; and

— continue to publicise the supports that are available through the Money Advice and Budgeting Service and to encourage people to contact them early before their debt problems accumulate.".

In framing the recent budget, the Government was obliged to make a number of difficult decisions. Those decisions were difficult because we were conscious of the fact that in raising taxes or cutting expenditure, we would have an impact on people's lives. Nowhere is this more true than in respect of the social welfare budget. The outcome of the budget has been to increase social welfare expenditure. As a result, the social welfare budget will be €21.3 billion this year. Unfortunately, the need for this increase has come about for the wrong reasons - namely, the rising numbers seeking jobseeker's assistance and jobseeker's benefit. However, provision must be made in respect of these people. Those who have lost their jobs are now the most vulnerable and they need our support.

The figure of €21.3 billion represents an increase of 20% on the allocation for last year. At a time when Exchequer income is decreasing at a drastic rate, it was essential that not only should we try to increase that income but that we should also reduce expenditure. To restore stability to the public finances, this meant we were obliged to do both. As are result of our decision in this regard, expenditure cuts were made across all Departments. However, the Department of Social and Family Affairs largely escaped the brunt of those cuts. That is a sign of the Government's commitment to the most vulnerable.

See this speech in context