asked the Minister for Social Welfare the average weekly number of reduced social insurance stamps purchased in respect of employees with earnings of less than £50 per week, since the introduction of the scheme; the estimated cost of the scheme in the budget; and the revised estimate of cost for 1978.
Ceisteanna—Questions . Oral Answers . - Social Insurance Scheme .
26.
: As I indicated in a reply to the Deputy in February last, the returns of social insurance stamps sold by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs are furnished on a quarterly basis. The return for the quarter ended 31 March 1978 is not yet available, and it is not therefore possible to furnish the information sought.
The estimated cost to the Exchequer in 1978 of the reduction in the employee's share of the social insurance stamp by £1 a week as from 1 January 1978 is £13 million. The additional cost from April 1978 of the reduction in the stamp by a further 50p a week in this year's budget is estimated at £4.250 million.