Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The fuel allowance increased last year, as the amount and number of weeks in the scheme were increased. The price of fuel came down. It remains intact in this budget.

We are still on target with NAPS. Despite the cuts in this budget, the average industrial wage has come down as well. It must be the case that there is no great incentive to be on social welfare as opposed to working. The replacement rates had to be looked at in this context as well. For some time a married couple, or a couple with a child, were better off on the dole than working, which is wrong and cannot continue.

It is with all these issues in mind that we have come forward with these particular cuts. None of them is easy but it is about ensuring we make the required savings without penalising too heavily and taking into account the fact that prices have fallen and that we have given substantial increases over recent years. As far as possible we have tried to maintain the priority issues that were highlighted by groups such as carers.