Vol. 513 No. 2
26 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs his views on the proportion of funding allocated to social welfare claimants in the context of the stability pact budgetary figures submitted to Brussels when current Government expenditure is projected to fall below 25% of GDP by 2002. [1922/00]
The December 1999 update on Ireland's stability programme, which was published by the Minister for Finance at budget time, projects a decrease in the trend in general Government current expenditure as a percentage of GDP from 28.9% in 1999 to around 25.3% by 2002.
However, the Updated Stability Programme highlights that projecting expenditure over the period 2000 to 2002 is complicated by the ongoing negotiations on a new national partnership agreement. I understand that potential public service pay increases on foot of any successor agreement have not, therefore, been included in the expenditure projections outlined in the Updated Stability Programme.
Nevertheless in recent years the trend in general Government current expenditure as a percentage of GDP has been declining. This reflects the strong economic performance since the mid-1990s. While general Government current expenditure has been increasing during this period, because of the exceptionally strong economic performance, GDP has been increasing at an even faster pace. In addition, economic and demographic improvements during the period have meant that expenditure on certain Government programmes has been decreasing. For instance, the significant fall of 80,000 in the live register since this Government took office has led to substantial reductions in overall expenditure on unemployment payments, which has fallen by almost 30% from £1,011 million in 1996 to an estimated £712 million in 2000 despite the significant increases in the rates of payment over that period.
In line with these developments, the trend in social welfare expenditure as a percentage of GDP has also been declining in recent years.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the benefits of economic growth generally are shared with the more vulnerable sections of our society so that all citizens have the opportunity and incentive to participate fully in the social and economic life of the country. Accordingly, Government action is geared to ensuring that all relevant policy areas covering taxation, employment, social welfare, occupational pensions and others help those concerned to move out of poverty and live in a manner compatible with human dignity.
Within this framework, the social welfare system has a central role to play. In this regard, the Government has substantially increased total annual social welfare expenditure since 1997 by almost £1 billion.
Furthermore, the recent social welfare budget package, costing about £423 million on a full year basis, represents the biggest ever social welfare allocation. To put this investment in context, it represents an increase of over £200 million or almost double the social welfare allocation in the 1997 budget which was introduced by my predecessor.
