Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the cumulative effects of cuts to social welfare payments for families that have more than one person claiming benefits, particularly those with dependants; and the way she will help families in this position. [8680/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In Budget 2010, the weekly personal rates of welfare payments payable to persons aged under 66 were reduced by amounts ranging from 3.5% to 4.2%. This range of decrease also applied where both of a couple are claiming a payment in their own right. Where a recipient is claiming an increase for a qualified adult, the qualified adult increase was decreased by the same percentage as the personal rate of payment.

In the case of persons who have dependent children, the rate of the qualified child increase was increased by €3.80 per week. This level of increase fully protected families who are dependent on social welfare from the reduction in the rates of child benefit. Improvements were also made to the family income supplement scheme to fully protect recipients from the child benefit reduction.

I fully appreciate that the changes made in the welfare area are not easy for people but I believe that if the Government had not taken the steps now to reduce overall public expenditure and restore stability to the public finances, we would have run the risk of making the economic and social situation far worse for everyone, including welfare recipients, in the medium term.