Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

At the outset I ask the Minister to stop using the 6.5% drop in the CPI as a figure in any way relevant to what is happening to people depending on social welfare. Those dependent on social welfare rarely have mortgages or significant foreign travel, and those two elements account for approximately half of the reduction in the CPI. It is not a relevant figure. The decision to cut the Christmas bonus will result in a real loss of 2% for people dependent on social welfare.

I do not know if the Minister saw the material produced by Barnardo's yesterday which showed the growing level of child poverty among families dependent on social welfare. Many of those families are already in serious difficulties in putting food on the table, paying for education, heating homes or clothing children.

These people are hurting and the Government's decision on the Christmas bonus will greatly exacerbate the hardship that those families are experiencing. It will mean that they will not have a Christmas. The same applies to pensioners and people with disabilities. It is an entirely heartless decision, especially where the Government had obvious choices to increase taxes.

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