Vol. 576 No. 1
98 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason she did not strongly oppose the ?58 million cutbacks to her Department's funding; and the meetings which took place in relation to these cutbacks. [29047/03]
The Abridged Estimates volume published on 13 November provided for a total allocation for social welfare spending in 2004 of €10.65 billion. This represents an increase of €358 million, or 3.5%, compared with the 2003 allocation. Furthermore, these estimates do not include any additional expenditure in respect of improvements to social welfare payments and programmes to be announced in the forthcoming budget. Taking that into account, I will have secured a considerable increase in the social welfare budget for 2004.
This increase in social welfare spending underscores the Government's commitment to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable in our society. However, in the interests of good financial management and targeting of resources, we must continue to review social welfare spending programmes so as to ensure that programme objectives are still valid and are met in the most efficient and effective way. For this reason, I announced as part of the Estimates process a number of changes to the conditions underlying some schemes so as to ensure that they continue meet their objectives. In line with the normal confidentiality of discussions in relation to the estimates and budgetary processes, it would not be appropriate for me to give details of my discussions with the Minister for Finance or with my Cabinet colleagues on these matters.
