Social workers, disabled people and single parents directed their anger at the financial secretary yesterday during his first pre-budget forum with the underprivileged.
Dozens of people aired their grievances to Henry Tang Ying-yen over the funding cuts to welfare services made over the past couple of years.
But Mr Tang brushed aside claims the government had cut welfare spending, saying expenditure had risen 236 per cent over the past decade, making it the policy area with the biggest increase.
Instead, he asked social workers to find out if their organisations had made the best use of taxpayers' money.
'As the financial secretary, I am most unhappy to see public funds being misspent,' he said.
He appealed for more understanding on how much the government could do with limited resources, but denied he was insensitive to the plight of the needy.
'We are not unaware of many problems in the community. But we have to make sure that our resources ... go to those who need help most. We just cannot keep spending more and more,' he said.