Vol. 368 No. 5
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if the Government accepts the recommendations of the Report of the Commission on Social Welfare; if so, when the recommendations will be implemented; when the report will be made available to the public; if it will be debated in the Dáil; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
16.
asked the Minister for Social Welfare if she intends making the Report of the Commission on Social Welfare available before the summer recess of Dáil Éireann; and, if not, the reason.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 16 together.
The Report of the Commission on Social Welfare was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 11 June 1986 providing Deputies and Senators with the opportunity of examining the contents of the report before publication.
The report is currently being printed and I expect that copies will be available for circulation to all members of the Oireachtas by mid-July. At the same time, the report will be made available to the public generally.
The level of additional social welfare expenditure to finance all of the commission's proposals, over £560 million in 1985 terms, prevents full immediate implementation of the recommendations. Nonetheless, the Government will be examining ways in which improvements to the system can be made within the overall financial constraints which exist. The question of a debate by the House on the report has yet to be decided but I would envisage that such a debate will take place.
