Poverty group criticises levels of social spending

Ireland has one of the lowest levels of social welfare support in Europe despite improved economic fortunes since the late 1980s, according to a new report by the Combat Poverty Agency.

The report, Irish Social Expenditure in a Comparative Economic Context, shows that social security transfers fell from 14.2 per cent of GDP in 1989 to 9.6 per cent in 1999.

This compares with Germany where, in the same period, social security transfers increased from 15.7 per cent of GDP to 18.9 per cent. The average social welfare transfer of GDP in the EU over the 10-year period stayed broadly the same, falling slightly from 16.9 per cent to 16.8 per cent.

Social welfare transfers are social welfare benefits, including unemployment assistance and child benefit.

The author of the report, Dr Virpi Timonen, who lectures in social studies at Trinity College Dublin, said the reduction in social welfare spending in Ireland had mirrored the trend in the US.

The director of Combat Poverty, Ms Helen Johnston, said the report demonstrated the need for Ireland to do more to improve services and create more equitable access to them.

She said the decline in transfers could be partly attributed to fewer people claiming unemployment benefit in the Republic. The population was also not ageing as quickly as other EU states, because so many Irish people had emigrated since the 1950s, resulting in lower spending on old-age pensions at present.