Unemployment payments fell by almost 9 per cent in 1997. Even allowing for an increase of almost 50 per cent in employment supports, this brought a net saving of about £50 million to the Exchequer.
Figures for 1997 released by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs yesterday show a fall of almost £200 million in unemployment assistance payments, and a small increase, from £207 to £215 million, in unemployment benefit.
This is in part accounted for by changes in who is obliged to pay PRSI, and thereby qualify for benefit rather than assistance.
Expenditure on the back-to-work allowance scheme increased by £18 million, or 46 per cent, and the area-based enterprise allowance scheme almost trebled in value, with an increase from just under £6 million to £15.3 million.
Family income supplement, which goes to help families on low pay, increased by just over £5 million, or 18.7 per cent.
Commenting on the figures, the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, said: "This means that one person is leaving the Live Register for every two jobs created."
Part of the fall in unemployment payments is accounted for by people signing off following investigation by the Department. One in seven of those investigated subsequently signed off, according to a spokeswoman, which is estimated to mean savings of £31 million.
This figure involves projected savings in the case of the long-term unemployed over about two years, she said.
While unemployment benefit and unemployment supports are the largest single item of expenditure in the social welfare budget, at 23.15 per cent, it is followed closely by old age contributory and non-contributory pensions, which take up 22.88 per cent. This increased by 4.1 per cent in 1997, and now costs over £1,035 million.
A total of 254,297 people are in receipt of old age pensions, while 244,537 receive some form of unemployment support.
The One-Parent Family payment, introduced in January 1997 to replace unmarried mothers' allowance and a number of other payments, along with widows' and widowers' pensions, accounts for 17.4 per cent of social welfare payments, with child-related benefits costing 9.63 per cent.
The rest is taken up by illness, disability and caring allowances, miscellaneous and administration (4.65 per cent).
There are 97,340 people in receipt of widows' and widowers' pensions, and 57,280 receiving the allowance for unmarried parents, separated people and prisoners' wives.
While total social welfare expenditure has increased by 73 per cent since 1988, it represents a slightly smaller proportion of net current Government expenditure now than it did 10 years ago (32.3 per cent now compared with 32.7 in 1988), and a smaller proportion of gross domestic product (9.8 per cent compared with 11.5 per cent in 1988).
The State is the largest contributor to social welfare expenditure (57 per cent), followed by employers' PRSI (30.3 per cent) and employees' PRSI (10 per cent). The number of insured persons has been rising steadily over the past 10 years, from 1,343,200 in 1988 to 1,915,410 in 1997.