Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

To do this we must put the public finances back on a sustainable footing. We must bridge the gap between Government expenditure and revenue which is currently filled by borrowing. At present, there is a shortfall of €16 billion in the Government's finances. Unless the rate of borrowing is reduced, the burden of debt servicing will take up an increasing proportion of tax revenue. This would mean that expenditure on vital schemes and services such as those provided by the Department of Social Protection would become increasingly unsustainable.

The Government decided to make an adjustment of €3.8 billion between tax and spending in 2012. Of this, €1.4 billion is to come from day to day spending, including health, welfare and education. As the biggest spending Department, the Department of Social Protection must play its part in that adjustment. This Department currently accounts for approximately 40% of all current government expenditure. This means that €4 in every €10 that the Government spends are spent on social protection. The reality is that it is not possible to stabilise and reduce public spending without any impact on my Department's budget.

However, despite the extremely challenging financial environment in which we find ourselves, the adjustment in social protection spending next year will be limited to €475 million or just over 2% of the Department's spend. This compares with a reduction of €810 million in 2010 and a reduction of €515 million in 2009 when the previous Government was in power.

Some on the Fianna Fáil benches have been critical of these measures and I can assure them these are not the measures I would have hoped to introduce in my first budget. However, let me be very clear, this Government has done more to protect the people who turn to the Department of Social Protection for help than its predecessor ever did.

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