Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will add that the Deputy raised a number of specific questions relating to different areas of expenditure. All I can do is acknowledge the points he has made, one of which is that an increase in income because of a Government decision in the budget to increase a particular payment should not result in somebody losing an important secondary benefit. That is an important point made by the Deputy, which I acknowledge. It will be considered over the course of finalising the budget. He also quite understandably raised the issue facing people who have a disability, namely, the additional cost involved in living with a disability. Again, that is something we are very conscious of. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Rabbitte, are very keen to improve services and, where possible, to improve incomes for people who have a disability.

I echo the point the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, made around businesses. We acknowledge the scale of the challenge for many. We know that it raises very serious viability challenges for some though not for all. We have come across countless examples in recent weeks where the scale of the increase has been eye-watering and will quickly put many of those businesses in real trouble. We will do our very best to respond through the budget, while acknowledging there are always limitations to what we can do, especially bearing in mind that nobody can predict with any degree of certainty how long this period of very elevated energy prices will continue. I agree with the point the Minister made. We are focused on this budget, which has two parts. It includes the normal budget for next year that will allow us to do some good things even though, on the expenditure side, when we take out all the pre-commitments, the increase in the public capital programme, and the public service pay deal that I hope will be ratified, the scope for new initiatives and new measures is quite limited. It is tight on the core side for next year. That is another reason we will do the best we can in the context of the package in quarter 4 to assist those who are most in need and to assist businesses too.