AS LIVE REGISTER figures indicated a small drop today, a new report from the Department of Social Protection revealed that some 2.3 million people, or half the population of Ireland, received a weekly social welfare payment last year.

Nearly 1.5 million people received payments each week but when qualified adults and children – otherwise known as ‘dependents’ – were included, the numbers benefitting from the payments almost doubled.

The total expenditure by the department last year reached over €20 billion with some two million applications for social welfare schemes and services processed in 2012,

87 million scheme payments made, more than one million control reviews carried out and 8.4 million phone calls were answered.

Last year the department allocated 154,000 PPS numbers to people from over 180 countries.

It also advertised 95,000 job opportunities and the department said that by the end of 2012, over 13,000 internships had commenced through JobBridge.

Commenting on the publication of the report today, Minister Joan Burton said the figures demonstrate the scale of her department’s work which impacts o the lives of “almost every person and family in the State”.

“But the Department is no longer focused just on income supports, social welfare must be both a safety net and a springboard,” she said. “Since taking office, my focus has been on transforming the Department from the passive benefits provider of old to one that actively engages with jobseekers to help them back to work.”

Read: Same number of women but 700 less men sign on in May>
Read: McDonald criticises JobBridge’s ‘no experience required’ childcare positions>
Read: ‘Worrying degree of inappropriate access’ to welfare information>