asked the Minister for Social Welfare the basis for his calculation that the 10 per cent social welfare increase announced in the budget will amount to an increase in real terms of 6 per cent.
19.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Social Welfare Increase.
18.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his estimate that the increases in social welfare payment contained in the recent budget would result in a real increase of 6 per cent was based on the ESRI forecast for inflation in 1978.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Question Nos. 18 and 19 together. The increase in real terms of 6 per cent in social welfare payments is arrived at by comparing the amount of benefit payable to individual beneficiaries in the year 1978, taking into account the increase of 10 per cent from April 1978, with the amount which would have been required to bring the corresponding payments in 1977 up to a level sufficient to compensate for the projected increase in the cost of living in 1978. The increase is based on forecasts made by the Department of Finance.
I assume the Minister would have his views as to the veracity of the Department of Finance's forecast. Could the Minister not accept that an increase of this nature to social welfare beneficiaries is hardly likely even to keep them in line with increases in the cost of living, bearing in mind that other benefits, such as adjusted income tax allowances, removal of car tax and household rates will not benefit people in receipt of social welfare benefit?
That would not be relevant to this calculation. This calculation refers simply to an increase in real benefits for social welfare recipients in 1978.
Consequently, if they are not eligible for those additional benefits from which other sectors of the community benefited, the social welfare beneficiaries, in real terms, at the end of this year will be worse off than they were at the beginning of the year.
No, the calculation I have quoted shows clearly, confined to social welfare recipients, that the increase of 10 per cent granted in April this year will result in a real increase in benefit to the social welfare recipients concerned of 6 per cent.
As opposed to the rest of the community.
As opposed to an nominal 10 per cent. The 10 per cent in monetary terms, when calculated —and having regard to all the different factors—will amount to a real increase of 6 per cent.
But as opposed to a working population with an 8 per cent wage increase, removal of car tax——
I have no figures as to what the real increase for the rest of the community will be this year but, under the enlightened economic policies of Fianna Fáil, I am quite certain they will be very considerable.
I hope the social welfare recipients will feel that those policies were enlightened at the end of this year.