The Government expects social welfare spending to rise by €3.6 billion this year as the numbers claiming unemployment benefits continues to climb.
Following its supplementary Budget earlier this month, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan today published the revised Book of Estimates which shows precisely where the cuts in public spending will occur.
The estimates indicated the Government expects spending on jobseekers’ allowance to increase by 89 per cent from €1.15 billion to €2.19 billion.
Mr Lenihan rejected criticism that the Government’s economic recovery placed an unfair burden on the taxpayer and would deflate the economy.
He said: “There is a misconception that the Government has made the majority of the budgetary adjustments on the taxation side.”
“The reality is that the expenditure reductions adopted since last July will amount to at least €4.3 billion in 2009, or 3 per cent of GNP.”
The taxation increases in October’s budget and the supplementary Budget were introduced to raise some €3.8 billion, he said.
The estimates indicate the Government expects social welfare spending to rise by €3.6 billion this year from €17.7 to €21.2 billion on the back of a surge in unemployment.
The gross allocation of €63.9 billion for 2009 included provision for the increases in the Live Register.
“This increase adds some €2.8 billion to overall projected expenditure in 2009, with other pressures on social welfare supports bringing the overall increase in Social Welfare to €3.6 billion,” he said.
“Without these increases Gross Total expenditure would have fallen by 3.3 per cent, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to disciplined budgetary management of spending pressures generally,” he added.