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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 24 May 2001

Vol. 537 No. 1

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Payments.

Dick Spring

Question:

29 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs his preferred method of indexation of social welfare income. [15295/01]

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

47 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the progress made to date by the social welfare benchmarking and indexation working group which was to have delivered an interim report by the end of April 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15304/01]

Seán Ryan

Question:

61 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will update Dáil Éireann on the progress of the working group on the benchmarking of social welfare income; and if he has made any recommendations on the interim report or on his own ideas for benchmark options. [15272/01]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 29, 47 and 61 together.

The social welfare benchmarking and indexation group, established under the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, PPF, presented its interim report at the end of April. Copies of the report are available in the Oireachtas Library. The interim report has been distributed to representatives of the pillars of social partnership and the report can also be found on my Department's website.

The terms of reference of the group are drawn from the PPF and require it to examine the issues involved in developing a benchmark for adequacy of adult and child social welfare payments, including the implications of adopting a specific approach to the ongoing up-rating or indexation of payments, having regard to their long-term economic, budgetary, PRSI contribution, distributive and incentive implications, in light of trends in economic, demographic and labour market patterns; and examine the issue of relative income poverty.

The interim report identifies the key issues which the group is addressing in seeking to achieve a consensus position on the range of issues involved in developing a benchmark for adequacy of welfare payments, and on the question of indexation or up-rating of these payments. The group is continuing with its work at present and intends to complete its work by the end of July 2001. It will produce its final report shortly thereafter.

Given that the group was specifically established under the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness to examine the issues involved, it will be appreciated that it would be inappropriate for me to seek to pre-empt its findings at this stage. I can assure the Deputies, however, that the most careful account will be taken of the conclusions reached by the group once its work has been completed, both in the immediate context of the 2002 budget and in the wider context of the development of welfare policy generally.

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