The Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin has said the previous government left the current one with "a €2bn hole" of cuts in social welfare.

I WISH to commend the parents of severely disabled Orla Noone for highlighting the inadequacies of the state in their support of disabled people (Irish Examiner, July 7).

The Mayor of Limerick Kevin Kiely is calling for the Minister for Social Welfare to investigate State payments to Wayne Dundon.

THE NATIONAL Federation of Services for Unmarried Parents has backed the Minister for Social Welfare’s controversial statement that the current one-family payment is not working.

ONLY in Ireland could the people who destroyed the country find the nerve to depict themselves as responsible stewards of the nation in the build-up to the budget. I feel like a burglar is giving me advice about setting up a neighbourhood watch scheme.

DOZENS of people have been waiting more than 20 weeks for jobseekers’ allowance in parts of Co Cork.

The public should not panic about the proposals in the Commission for Taxation report or the McCarthy report, Minister for Social Welfare Mary Hanafin said in Cork yesterday.

Major changes to the tax system are expected to be recommended by the Commission on Taxation when it launches its report later today.

MARY HANAFIN, the Minister for Social Welfare, is to be congratulated in her efforts to confront fraud within the system by ending the practice of paying unemployment entitlements directly into new claimants’ bank accounts.

THE European Court of Justice (ECJ) is to issue a ruling tomorrow week that could force An Post to relinquish its annual contract worth around €37 million to make social welfare payments on behalf of the Government.

Measures to control abuse of the social welfare system have ensured €200m has been saved from fraudsters so far this year, it emerged today.

Labour party leader Pat Rabbitte has described Charles Haughey - who died this morning - as a dominant figure in Irish politics for almost four decades.

AT LEAST 21,000 residents have fled East Timor’s capital Dili, a minister said, amid rumours of impending clashes among security forces, despite repeated government assurances of their safety.

The Government has announced the introduction of new measures to crack down on the numbers of people who are long-term unemployed.

Brian O’Mahony, Chief Business Correspondent

IT will cost the Government an estimated €12 million to ensure pensioners and low-income households retain subsidised rubbish collection services.

Insurance brokers have called on the Government to make PRSA payouts completely tax-free on maturity of up to €30,000 per annum as an incentive to increase pension uptake.

THE three-year time limit on people participating in community employment schemes is expected to be relaxed by the Minister for Enterprise, Micheál Martin.

Revolving doors on prisons were a real fascination in this country just a decade ago. Now the concept appear to have been transferred to a European context.

MINISTERS were ordered by the Taoiseach last night to hold “clinics” for Fianna Fáil backbenchers every Tuesday night.

THE Taoiseach and Tánaiste yesterday played down suggestions of a roll back on the Government's decentralisation plans.

AGRICULTURE MINISTER Joe Walsh bizarrely claimed yesterday that he was never interested in the European Commissioner’s job, despite his recent pronouncements indicating the absolute contrary.

THE Minister for Health has given us a smoking ban. The Tánaiste wants to look after elderly people.

MINISTER for Finance Charlie McCreevy will be giving extra money for social welfare benefits in next week’s Budget 2004, but it won’t be used to reverse 16 contentious cuts in welfare schemes.

THE Government was warned yesterday that it will need to allocate more funding for dole payments this year due to the growing economic crisis.

DONEGAL trawlermen are to get extra government funding to help them combat tough new EU fishing restrictions.

The Labour Party has urged Mary Coughlan, the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, to meet with the Irish Dentists Association immediately to seek a resolution to their dispute.

Unemployment fell by nearly 9,000 last month, according to figures published by the Central Statistics Office.

A report out today shows that Ireland now has one of the lowest levels of

The Tanaiste and the Minister for Social Welfare are being asked to