A cut of 4% in social welfare payments has been introduced in Budget 2011. Although there has been a 4,200 decline in the Live Register, there are still 438,800 people on welfare according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Politico is running a series of interviews with people in Ireland living on the verge of poverty who will be plunged deeper into poverty now that their allowances will be cut further.

Politico is running a series of interviews with people in Ireland living on the verge of poverty who will be plunged deeper into poverty if their allowances are cut significantly. This third interview in the series focuses on the experiences of a South African asylum seeker living in Galway. [Interview conducted by the European Anti-Poverty Network, edited by Alison Spillane of Politico]

If the government's four-year plan goes ahead it will reduce the social welfare budget by €2.8 million by 2014; around €850 million of this will be "frontloaded" in Budget 2011. Politico is running a series of interviews with people in Ireland living on the verge of poverty who will be plunged deeper into poverty if their allowances are cut significantly. This second interview in the series focuses on a single mother living on disability allowance.

Politico is running a series of interviews with Irish people living on the verge of poverty. These people will be severly impacted by cuts to welfare in the coming budget. In the first article, a Dundalk man describes the basic necessities his family can no longer since he became unemployed in 2008. [Interviews conducted in conjunction with the European Anti-Poverty Network.]

Roger has been unemployed for nearly two years. He lives in Dundalk with his family and previously worked for 20 years as a qualified electrician. In 2003, he was in a car accident and injured his back.