Taoiseach Brian Cowen and the Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin have indicated there will be significant reductions in social welfare spending in the forthcoming Budget.
The comments were made at a meeting this afternoon between the Taoiseach, Ms Hanafin and the Community and Voluntary Pillar under the social partnership process.
The 17-member group includes Social Justice Ireland, the Children’s Rights Alliance, the Society of St Vincent de Paul and the Senior Citizens Parliament among others.
Seamus Boland of Irish Rural Link, who attended the meeting, said the talks centred generally on the economic situation facing the country. He said the Taoiseach had again indicated that cuts of up to €4 billion had to be implemented in the Budget in December.
Mr Boland said Ms Hanafin and the Taoiseach had pointed out that as part of this process there would have to be significant reductions in social welfare spending. He said they told the meeting the country could not afford the current level of expenditure but did not provide details of where the cuts might fall in the Budget.
Mr Boland said the Community and Voluntary Pillar had argued that cuts in social welfare spending would hurt those who were the most vulnerable and weakest in society.
He said they had maintained that if the country could not afford fairness and justice for the weakest in society, it could not afford to provide tax breaks for those who were among the wealthiest.
A spokeswoman for Ms Hanafin said the Taoiseach had outlined the general situation regarding the social welfare budget and the overall economic position. She said it was never the intention that the meeting would deal with specific issues.
The spokeswoman said Ms Hanafin had invited the Community and Voluntary Pillar to further talks on how the reductions in spending could have the least impact.