Sir, – One wonders what chance there is of ever getting a really honest response to pertinent questions from this Government given the interchanges at the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’s review of Ireland’s performance in this area.
A glaring example of the tendency to massage data is demonstrated in your report of comments made by Minister for State for Foreign Affairs Sean Sherlock at the hearing ("UN committee examines State's social rights record", June 9th).
In trying to defend the claims of gross unfairness by the Government in how it shared the burden of correcting the fiscal problems, Mr Sherlock stated that the spend on social protection measures as a proportion of the total government budget increased by 37 per cent between 2007 and 2015.
All well and good, until the facts are examined – an examination which shows clearly that the starting point of 2007 is not only irrelevant in terms of explaining the current Government’s action but is clearly misleading.
Figures available from the Department of Social Protection show that expenditure for 2007 was €15.5 billion which increased to €20.5 billion in 2009. From there the expenditure flat-lined under the present Government and in 2013 actually dropped below the 2009 spend to €20.2 billion, despite the massive rise in unemployment that occurred over that time.
The number of persons in receipt of some form of welfare support was 1.4 million in 2009 compared with 2.2 million people in 2013, while the protection spending hardly moved at all.
These facts show clearly that under the present Government welfare spending has dramatically fallen in a period when demand for support has mushroomed. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.