Mary Wallace
Question:486 Miss M. Wallace asked the Minister for Social Welfare the groups he has met concerning the budget; and the date on which he met each group. [1250/96]
Written Answers. - Budget Meetings.
I hosted the annual pre-budget forum on 4 December 1994. At the forum a number of organisations were invited to discuss with me their proposals and priorities for social welfare in the 1996 budget. The following organisations were represented at the forum: Conference of Religious of Ireland, Treoir, National Association of the Mentally Handicaped, National Federation of Pensioners Associations, Tallaght Welfare Society, Carers' Association, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, National Women's Council, National Association of Widows in Ireland, Disability Federation of Ireland, Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, Irish Widowers and Separated Fathers Association, Women in the Home, Forum of People with Disabilities, Crosscare, Family Solidarity, Irish Countrywomen's Association, Women's Aid, ICTU Centres for the Unemployed, One Parent Exchange and Network, Parents Alone Resource Centre.
I subsequently met representatives of the Irish Business Employers Conference and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Both these meetings took place on 11 December 1995. I also took the opportunity to meet delegates from both the Conference of Religious of Ireland and the Forum of People with Disabilities again. These meetings took place on 18 January 1996.