Welfare could be changed by Christmas

Changes to social welfare could be put through the Dáil before Christmas.

However, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan has stressed that no decisions had yet been taken by Government.

The issue was raised by Fine Gael's Alan Shatter, who asked if the annual Social Welfare Bill introducing Budget changes would be published.

He asked if it would be introduced immediately after the Budget and guillotined through the Dáil before Christmas.

The Tánaiste replied that if there were changes due to take effect from 1 January, the legislation would be published before Christmas.

Earlier, Taoiseach Brian Cowen reiterated that the only option in the forthcoming Budget is to look at all areas of expenditure.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Cowen said harsh decisions had to be made as soon as possible for the good of the country.

Mr Cowen said the structural deficit had to be dealt with. He said tax revenues were at 2003 levels but that expenditure was at 2009 levels.

He said that in the last two budgets, taxation had been increased, yet yields were down.

He said that the scale of the problem was such that social welfare and public sector pay and pensions could not be immune from the Budget.

'It is in the interest of trying to protect services, to the greatest extent possible, that we have to try and find a sustainable way forward. This adjustment will be difficult, but I believe its necessary, I believe if we do it there will be more confidence and other effects, ' he said.

'I've made it very clear there will have to be a contribution from the social welfare budget towards the correction, but political decisions as to how and in what way that will happen have not yet been taken'.

He said when he was Minister for Finance there was increases in the social welfare budget of three to four times the rate of inflation. He said: 'I have no problem with that; it was the right thing to do'.

However, he said the present situation was totally different: 'The scale of the problems is such that one has to consider things that one would usually not consider'.

Also on Morning Ireland, former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald said that the Government's decision not to increase taxation in the forthcoming Budget was a huge reversal of policy.

However, he said he was very supportive of the Government's aim of reducing expenditure and the measures that would have to be taken to achieve this.