Vol. 550 No. 4
299 Mr. B. Hayes asked the Minister for Finance the reasons his Department chose to reject the majority recommendation in the Social Welfare Benchmarking Report, when the Government published the review of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy which seems to accept the recommendation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8557/02]
As set out in section 8.4.5, chapter 8 of the Final Report of the Social Welfare Benchmarking and Indexation Group, in the view of the representatives of the Department of Finance, along with those of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Employers Pillar, "it was inappropriate to establish a formal benchmark and that the existing arrangements, which have seen real increases, i.e. in excess of inflation, in welfare rates should continue to apply. Essentially, it would be left to the discretion of the Government to determine the level of welfare increases from year to year, having regard to the range of high priority demands on the Exchequer and to issues of affordability, sustainability and compatibility with the social, economic and employment needs of the economy on a continuing basis".
