Government ‘softening people up’ for welfare cuts

THE Government was accused of “softening people up” for cuts in dole and other social welfare payments by leaking details of finance plans to yesterday’s Sunday newspapers.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen, said yesterday that the cabinet has not made any decisions on social welfare spending plans for the next budget, planned later in the year.

But his Government was accused of a deliberate public relations strategy after a number of newspapers quoted senior sources indicating that dole and other welfare payments are too high and will be cut next year.

It was reported this is one of the recommendations by An Bord Snip Nua, the body charged with finding major cuts of up to €4 billion in state spending.

Fine Gael spokesperson on social and family affairs Olwyn Enright, said this was a “media strategy to minimise a backlash” when the cuts are finally announced in the budget.

“You would almost imagine it was the week before budget day reading the Sunday newspapers which are full of the kind of Government finance briefings we normally only see pre-budget. This time they are softening people up for social welfare cuts and terrifying those who have already lost their jobs and those who are in danger of doing so,” she said.

“One thing that’s clearly missing is any consistency. In the last budget the Christmas bonus was cut in order, we were told, to avoid cuts to social welfare payments. Now they’re talking about giving back the Christmas bonus and going ahead with cutting social welfare,” she said.

Health Minister Mary Harney said it was disappointing that just 19 members of the judiciary have so far volunteered to pay the pension levy.

The pay of judges cannot be cut for constitutional reasons. Asked on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics if there should be a referendum on the question of giving the Government power in this area, Ms Harney said: “Nineteen to date, it is disappointing and I would certainly hope there would be a better response, but the last thing the Government needs to do is sit in judgment of the judiciary. I think that would be a very dangerous thing to do.”

She said: “I believe that the judiciary will respond as members of this society.

“I think they will show solidarity with those people that are losing their jobs, and people who had to take a big hit in their incomes, as many people have, particularly in the private sector and also through the levy in the public sector.”

Fine Gael’s immigration spokesman, Denis Naughten, said judges should instead be forced to take shorter holidays: “Since this idea has not worked, judges should, as a measure of goodwill, sit during the month of September when they are due to be on leave.

“The asylum system currently costs the taxpayer €507 per minute.

“Millions of euro could be saved by judges taking the initiative and dealing with the asylum backlog which is having a terrible impact on those left in legal limbo,” the FG TD said.