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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 11 Dec 2001

Vol. 546 No. 3

Written Answers. - Departmental Expenditure.

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Ceist:

30 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the proportions of taxation, including PRSI, and the proportion of gross domestic product spent on social welfare in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001; and the way in which these proportions compare with EU partner nations for 2000 and 2001. [31606/01]

Total social welfare expenditure for the years in question was:

£ (millions)

(millions)

1997

4,524

5,744

1998

4,763

6,048

1999

4,948

6,283

2000

5,329

6,766

2001

6,161

7,823

Following last week's budget, expenditure in 2002 is estimated to be £7.408 billion or 9.4 million – an increase of almost two-thirds since we came to office.
In percentage terms, expenditure as a percentage of GDP for these years is:

1997

8.6%

£52.8 billion

1998

7.8%

£60.7 billion

1999

7.1%

£70.1 billion

2000

6.5%

£81.5 billion

2001

6.8%

£90.7 billion

And as regards taxation, the overall percentage of combined tax and PRSI revenue spent on social welfare was:

1997

27.9%

£16.2 billion

1998

26.1%

£18.3 billion

1999

23.5%

£21.0 billion

2000

21.8%

£24.3 billion

2001

24.4%

£25.3 billion

In relation to comparisons with other EU states, I am not aware of any source of information which would be directly comparable with the above figures. Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, publishes comparisons of social protection expenditure across the different EU member states. However, as well as encompassing social welfare expenditure, social protection expenditure, as defined by Eurostat, also covers expenditure in other areas such as health care, social housing, employment support programmes, for example, certain FÁS programmes and other social inclusion programmes. This is very different from the definition of "social welfare" as we understand it in this country.
The latest year for which this Eurostat information is available is 1998. In that year, social protection expenditure – broadly defined as set out above – in Ireland represents a lower proportion of GDP than the EU average: the proportion in Ireland is 16%, compared to an EU average of 27.7%. I might add that while international comparisons usually use GDP, it is recognised that in Ireland GNP, rather than GDP, is a better measure of the income available to society. The figures based on GDP understate the proportion of our income that is spent on social protection.
In addition, the fact that we have a relatively young population means not just that our pension costs are lower, but we also have lower costs on health care and caring generally. Furthermore, due to lack of date on occupational pensions and benefits in Ireland, the Eurostat figures seriously understate expenditure in this regard.
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