Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Some €25 million will be saved by a lowering of the income thresholds for the over 70s medical cards to €900 per week for a couple and €500 for a single person and €30 million for private bed charges in public hospitals. Further details of the Health Estimates will be announced by my colleague, the Minister for Health, later today.

Social Protection

I am pleased to announce that the burden of the adjustment on social protection expenditure will be reduced by €150 million in 2014 to €290 million. This is the third year in succession that this Government has delivered a lower consolidation than that set out by its predecessor and reaffirms our commitment to both health and social protection. Department of Social Protection expenditure remains the largest single area of public spending, accounting for almost 40% of gross current expenditure. This area of expenditure cannot be excluded from savings.

The household benefits package remains a significant area of spending, accounting for over €280 million this year. In order to reduce costs, we have decided to discontinue the remaining telephone allowance for all recipients from 1 January-----

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