Vol. 558 No. 5
80 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the likely impact that spend ing cutbacks in her Department, as outlined in the Book of Estimates, will have on social welfare recipients; the projections in spending for her Department for 2003 in full; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24701/02]
Details of planned expenditure by my Department for 2003 are included in the Abridged Estimates Volume which was published recently. These do not include additional social welfare spending to be announced by my colleague the Minister for Finance today.
As provided in the Estimates, social welfare spending will rise by 3.5% on a pre-budget basis in 2003 compared with the 2002 Estimates to a total of €9.7 billion.
The Estimates volume shows significant increases in spending on a number of social welfare schemes before any budget changes are provided for, for example, spending on child benefit which will rise by €100 million, spending on old age contributory and retirement pensions which will rise by €52 million, widow's and widower's contributory pensions expenditure which will rise by €12 million, and supplementary welfare allowance spending which will rise by €77 million.
Expenditure in some areas is projected to decline by reason of an underlying reduction in the number of claimants and decline in demand for the schemes in question. The only other change in this area is that unemployed people participating in the back to education scheme will be required to seek employment during the summer holiday period from 2003 and will not have automatic entitlement to the allowance over the summer months.
Due to the continued decline in demand for the back to work allowance scheme and in the light of the recommendations of a review of labour market programmes by independent consultants, the qualification conditions for the scheme are being re-focused on the most disadvantaged groups. This will mean that from January 2003, the scheme will be open to those who are very long-term unemployed, that is, on the live register for five years or more. Those in receipt of DB for three years or more may also be eligible, as will those in receipt of one of the following for one year or more: disability allowance, invalidity pension, one parent family payment, carer's allowance, blind person's pension, ex-prisoners, PRETA and unemployability supplement.
The PRSI exemption scheme is being similarly re-focused to target these disadvantaged groups. Current participants on these schemes will not be affected.
