Burton will work to ensure budget cuts do not fall on less well-off

SOCIAL Protection Minister Joan Burton says she will do her best to ensure that the burden of resolving the financial crisis does not fall disproportionately on those in the lowest part of the economic spectrum.

But the minister, who met with more than 30 voluntary and community groups in Dublin yesterday, has stressed that, at this stage, no decisions have been made in relation to social welfare measures for the December budget.

Ms Burton said her department had been marked out by the previous government and the IMF for reductions in expenditure of about €822 million.