Social security benefits bill up €30.3m

The government spent €30.3 million more on social security benefits in the first nine months of this year when compared to the same period last year, official statistics show.

Most of the increase is traceable to higher expenditure on benefits tied with national insurance contributions, which include pensions, injury benefits and unemployment benefits, an increase of €26.8 million over 2008. The bulk of the increase was due to a €20.5 million rise in pensions, which amounted to €243.8 million, and was primarily underpinned by outlays in the two thirds pension, which went up thanks to an increase in beneficiaries.

Expenditure on pensions related to invalidity dropped by €2.6 million while widow pensions increased by €1 million. Benefits unrelated to contributions increased by €3.5 million over the corresponding period last year, most of which - €3.3 million - being spent on social assistance. Old-age pension and medical assistance rose by €500,000 and €300,000 respectively. Less money was spent on children's allowance and supplementary assistance, with declined by €300,000 and €1.2 million respectively.

Expenditure on social security benefits in the third quarter amounted to €147.7 million, an increase of €8.2 million compared to the September quarter of 2008. This growth was brought about by an increase of €5.7 million in contributory benefits and €2.4 million in non-contributory benefits. The increase in contributory benefits was driven up by €5.2 million in two-thirds pension and the rise in the non-contributory benefits was mainly due to the increase in supplementary assistance of €2.2 million.