Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I gave the Deputy the amount that is provided for in the Estimate, which is €47 million. That is a significant amount. In 2011, approximately 49,000 people got assistance with clothing. In 2012, a total of 51,914 people got such assistance. I do not fully understand the reason the Deputy suggests that there is no provision now because there is a provision in the Estimates for €47 million. Perhaps he would give me the details.

It is important that Members such as Deputy Ó Snodaigh would appreciate that we are borrowing money to pay for social protection. We do that because it is important for our citizens. However, it is equally important to be conscious of those who are lending to us, which includes the United Kingdom. That jurisdiction makes the point on such payments that it does not pay it at all and that social welfare payments there are well below the level at which we make social welfare payments. The United Kingdom does not make any provision under this particular heading.

I have not even mentioned the significant amount my Department also spends in exceptional cases of flooding. It is not included in the figure. In those cases we renew clothing, bedding, household goods and other items which have been destroyed by flooding. That is something else with which community welfare service officers deal. Deputy Ó Snodaigh’s suggestion that community welfare officers no longer make any payments is incorrect. The evidence shows that 51,000 payments were made last year-----

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