Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Malley, and I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, on her excellent speech. As she said, this is the second of two Bills which are necessary to implement the €630 million social welfare package of the 2004 budget. A separate Bill came before us in December which gave effect to significant increases in weekly social welfare payments and allowed the increases to take effect from the beginning of January.

Since 1997 social welfare payment rates have increased by 62%. If we cast our minds back to 1997, though some on the Opposition benches may not want to do so, the total budget for the Department of Social Welfare for the year was €5.7 billion. This year over €11.2 billion will be spent on social welfare payments, the highest amount in the history of the State.

The Bill implements key improvements in social welfare schemes including increases in child benefit, improvements in the carer's respite grant, increases in death benefit pension payable to recipients aged 80 years and over, improvements in the payment after death arrangements and a range of other measures. Child benefit payments have more than tripled since 1997. Senator Cummins used figures and statistics so I feel it is necessary to point some out also.