Social affairs spending to hit record

RECORD spending by the Department of Social Affairs next year is expected to be boosted by around €1 billion in the December Budget.

Social Affairs Minister, Seamus Brennan, pointed out that spending on social welfare would increase to €12.49bn next year, an increase of over €200 million even before announcements in the Budget were taken into account.

The 2005 Estimate was €11.4bn, a figure that was boosted by €874m in the Budget to give a historically high combined spend last year of €12.2bn.