Spending by the Department of Social and Family Affairs increased by more than 20 per cent in one year, its annual report shows.
The 2002 report, published yesterday, shows the Department's expenditure was €9.5 billion last year - an increase of 21.4 per cent on 2001.
A spokeswoman said the increase did not mean a substantial number of additional people had become dependent on social welfare during the course of last year. She said there had been an increase of "just 3.9 per cent" in the number of people on welfare.
"While expenditure went up by more than a fifth, the number of recipients only increased by just 3.9 per cent. Big increases were, for example, in child-related payments where expenditure went up by 49.2 per cent," she said. Spending on old-age payments increased by 15.5 per cent last year while some €30 million more was spent on the Carers' Allowance last year compared with 2001 - an increase of 22.8 per cent.
More than 925,000 people received a weekly social welfare payment last year, with more than 500,000 families in receipt of child benefit. More than 1.4 million people availed of free schemes such as electricity, travel and phone rental, the report indicates.
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, welcomed the report, saying it demonstrated "our ability and our record of delivery of policies which are making a real change in the lives of those dependent on social welfare".
The report also details the computerisation of social welfare records, which the Minister said would make accessing records and researching entitlements "faster and easier". The new system will provide citizen's social insurance records dating back over 20 years. Over 4.3 million microfilm images of records have been catalogued.
Ms Coughlan said the Family Support Agency, initiated in 2002, would provide "assistance and information through a national professional network of family support organisations and services".
