Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Social welfare increases have been very significant in recent years. There is an argument which states that the wedge that now exists between job seeker's allowance and what people are being paid on the minimum wage is quite narrow and the incentive for people to get out to work is, perhaps, not as much as it might be. A very significant issue in this budget is that, for the first time in this country, we are faced with a situation where if those decisions are not taken there is the strong possibility that outside influences would force us to make much more significant reductions in social welfare..

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