John Gormley
Question:90 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a judgment has been made as to which is a better benchmark, 30% of average earnings or 50% of average household income. [24764/02]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benchmarking.
The Social Welfare Benchmarking and Indexation Group was established in 2001 to examine the issues involved in developing a benchmark for adequacy of adult and child social welfare payments. The group published its final report in September 2001.
The illustrative benchmark options examined in the report included 30% of gross average industrial earnings and 50% of average weekly household income. The group did not reach consensus about which of these would be the better option as there were advantages and disadvantages associated with each option. For example, while gross earnings provide a fairly stable measure in relation to other indicators, it is not fully indicative of wage trends throughout the economy.
In addition, the report acknowledges that there is a significant time lag with regard to the production of figures for average household income even though it may reflect more accurately the prevailing standard of living. In the final analysis, it did not prove possible for the group to achieve a consensus on the desirability of establishing a formal benchmark.
The report has, however, provided a valuable resource for the assessment of the implications of adopting particular approaches to the uprating of social welfare payments and was carefully considered by Government as part of the review of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy. Recognising that the exact rate was a matter for Government, the strategy set a target of €150 per week – in 2002 terms – for the lowest social welfare payments to be met by 2007.