Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Kerrane is getting as bad as Deputy Ó Laoghaire on the education committee in terms of having asked all of the questions I had written down, but I will forge on.

We were asking about the specific commitments in the roadmap. In his introductory remarks, the Minister of State spoke about these being front-loaded. He gave some details to Deputy Kerrane. Would his Department be able to provide us with a note in this regard? The Minister of State said that some are completed, some are in train and some have not begun as yet. Will the Department provide us with a note so that we can go through it with different coloured highlighters? If there has been front-loading, which of those that have not been reached are priorities? Which are the ones the Minister of State really wants to complete? Which of those he really wants to get to have not yet been actioned at all? He has indicated that there will be a review. I hear that this will happen in early 2022. Are we talking about the first, second or third quarter? I just want to tie the Minister of State down on that.

He has rightly identified that what he is talking about is very interdepartmental. Looking through the roadmap and looking at his introductory comments, I feel it chimes greatly with the well-being indices project that is under way. One of the high-level goals relates to building inclusive communities. I was looking at the OECD model and civil engagement is one of the areas in which we score really badly in the OECD rankings, on which we might base our well-being indices. Will the Minister of State comment on that? I do not know if it amounts to a question.

To look at the broad thrust of where we are going, there was some discussion about benchmarking. Social Justice Ireland suggests that we should benchmark core social welfare payments at approximately 27.5% of the average wage. In budget 2021, we very much went after the most vulnerable cohorts when providing specific funding. That was merited, particularly in the context of Covid when a great many pandemic unemployment payments were in the mix, which may have muddied the waters. With regard to the general approach, does the Minister of State believe we should continue to specifically target particular cohorts or would we better off looking at an increase in general social welfare payments? Which approach does he believe would give us the best bang for our buck with regard to alleviating poverty?

The Minister of State has already spoken extensively about fuel poverty. As a primary school teacher, I believe the Department of Education has a significant role in this regard. The Minister of State referenced the hot school meals programme. I will close my remarks by saying that today is a day when percentages which sound smallish are being identified as great ambitions. I refer to the 7% year-on-year reductions in emissions and the 2%. It is easy to say 2% but it deserves acknowledgement. I know the Minister of State is driving this agenda. It is a tremendously ambitious target. If achieved, a reduction of 2% in the fuel poverty rate will, as the Minister of State said, be one of the most important things achieved under the programme for Government. That is not a question, I am just commending the Minister of State and the Department for taking on this job of work and driving it forward. Deputy Joe O'Brien is the right man for that job. I am sorry, I am probably rambling slightly but I did ask a couple of questions during my contribution.