Nearly a quarter of Government spending is on Social Welfare payments, says new report

Heather Humphreys: While the report relates to social welfare schemes in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, we must also bear in mind the profound impact that the pandemic has had. File picture: Julien Behal/PA

Nearly a quarter of all Government expenditure is spent on welfare payments, according to the latest Social Welfare Statistics Annual Report.

Some €20.9bn was spent on the payments last year and represent 24% of general Government expenditure and some 6% of GDP