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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 29 Nov 1944

Vol. 95 No. 8

Ceisteanna. — Questions. Oral Answers. - British Social Security Proposals.

asked the Taoiseach if the Government is considering how the adoption by Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the proposals in the recent British White Paper on Social Security will affect this country, particularly in relation to emigration and the continuance of Partition; and, also, if the Government will investigate the possibility of introducing a comprehensive scheme of social security here.

In the normal course of events legislation contemplated or enacted by other countries which is likely to affect our interests in any way is examined by our own Government Departments and if necessary, considered by the Government as a whole. The British Social Security proposals referred to by the Deputy have not yet been embodied in legislative proposals much less enacted by the British Parliament. We have given them some consideration, but it is not possible at this stage to estimate with any degree of reliability what their political, social or economic effects on this country are likely to be.

With regard to the latter part of the Deputy's question, I would like to repeat what I and other members of the Government have already said, namely, that social services involve expenditure, and often substantial expenditure, from public funds and the extent to which we can develop them in this country must accordingly be related not only to the needs of the community but also to our resources, that is to say, the productivity of our industries, the amount of employment which can be provided, the state of our trade and other such factors. It follows, therefore, that the scale and scope of our social services must be determined by our own domestic circumstances, and we cannot accept the principle of adopting automatically the schemes deemed suitable by other countries whose needs and resources in no way correspond with ours. It is well to point out that in, for example, the case of children's allowances, we have advanced more rapidly than Great Britain.

The record of the present Government in regard to social legislation shows that it has a special regard for the economically weaker sections of the community and that in order to help those sections it is prepared to impose on those who occupy a favourable economic position as heavy a burden as it is thought they can reasonably bear and as can be imposed on them without detriment to the whole national economy. This will continue to be our guiding principle in the future. It should be pointed out, however, that some of the social legislation which has been enacted tends (other things being equal) to place a burden on industry without at the same time making it certain that there will be a proportionate increase in production. Examples are, the Conditions of Employment Acts, the Holidays, (Employees) Act, the Shops (Hours of Trading and Conditions of Employment) Acts, and the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Act. It is clear that we cannot continue indefinitely to operate measures which can diminish the national output and at the same time adopt measures which put heavier demands on this output, demands which could be met only by a greatly increased production.

Further developments in social services depend, then, as I have already indicated, on a number of factors which are for the most part indeterminate at the present time, but broadly it can be stated that no further considerable expansion of social services will be possible without an appreciable expansion of our national wealth. We can only advance step by step as we see clearly our way ahead.

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