Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

There is no doubt we would not be introducing these cuts in social welfare were it not for the economic situation in which we find ourselves and were it not for the need to bring stability to the finances of the country. Everybody recognises the huge increases introduced in social welfare payments in recent years, including in the last budget. These increases were well ahead of inflation. Prices have now come down with the result that purchasing power is much stronger. I know this is of little solace to somebody who is taking a cut in his or her social welfare payment. We would not be doing this were it not for the fact that we genuinely have to. If we do not make cuts in social welfare, we will end up with a greater imbalance in the other two sectors on which the State is spending money - public pay and services.