Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is the point I was trying to make. Inflation is probably eating into a good bit of the budget at the moment. I have even received correspondence from people who are providing the services such as haulage and the quarries. Some of them are in a situation where orders are not coming in and we could see lay offs in that industry at the back end of this year. This is probably as a result of more of the money in the budget being spent than last year while the same amount of work is not being done. That money has been spent because of inflation. We need to watch this very carefully and see how we can pull back on the inflation and the inflationary issues. It is settling but it is of concern.

Another area I wish to raise relates to current spending and social protection. Where do we see ourselves going in budgets for next year given the high demands from the areas of disabilities and in trying to sort out carers and all of the social issues we have in the country, which are coming hard and fast against us? This is even in times where we say our financial status is good, we are stabilised, we have money and surpluses, and so on. How will we deal with these legitimate demands from people with disabilities? For instance, the new criteria for the primary medical certificate has still not been sorted out.