Respite care grant cuts 'modest', says Rabbitte

Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has today refused to deal with calls for a reversal of the cut to respite care grants, which he has described as "modest".

During Leaders Questions in the Dáil today, Minister Rabbitte said that there was simply no other way but to make cuts to social welfare given the size of the spending in that area.

Sinn Féin said that the €325 cut to the respite care grant is not about fairness, but about decency and that the cut was wrong.

Minister Rabbitte said that the cut is "modest", however.

"Do you decide to take some modest decrease in that, or cut the provision for caring?" he said.

"There is no way that you can bring in a Budget the sixth in a row unless savings were made across the board."