Mr. John Mark McCafferty:

I apologise because I may have been the offender.

We have done things differently this year because we realise the strength of feeling behind the membership in telling us what the issues are, the need to connect with the general public on those issues and the need to say "no" to further austerity measures. Clearly, Government needs to balance its books over the medium term, but given the level of need and the suffering that our volunteers and services see day in, day out, we have no option but to say "no" to further austerity and to ask that the 2014 budget marks an end to the austerity budgets.

We are buoyed up this morning by what the former IMF staffer Ashoka Mody stated and by Deputy Stephen Donnelly's underlining of some of the points we are trying to make to those in power and in decision-making positions on the need to protect the individuals and families we assist. Committee members may know that the vast majority of those we assist are families, and the largest single group consists of lone parents. We are at pains to assist families and individuals with the costs of energy and education, general household costs and debt, which is a growing issue.

Today we have been asked to discuss social protection and education. We have a number of overall social protection policy objectives for this year. We want a living income, in and out of work, and this is with regard to protecting an adult social welfare rate, protecting eligibility for these working age payments, and protecting the family income supplement, which we see as a key support for families in work but on low pay.

With regard to our other objectives, we seek the elimination of child poverty and the development of child well-being. In this regard, child income support is relevant, as are supports at school and preschool level, which is why we advocate the protection and augmentation of the early childhood care and education scheme with regard to the number of weeks and its quality and, over the longer term, extension to a second year.

School meals are a key component of tackling disadvantage and deprivation as they help children focus on their work and help their overall development. We seek stronger co-ordination between the Departments and a more cohesive approach to get better outcomes in this regard. After-school care is important, and we hope to see it develop in the coming years.

Our key concerns are a living income for those in and out of work and tackling child poverty through income supports and education intervention. We welcome any questions committee members may have.