Mr. Rónán Hession:

Mr. Egan covered a lot of the ground. I will see if there is anything I can add from my own notes. Regarding the core welfare rates and whether we have done any analysis of how they affect people in poverty, we published an analysis with the budget showing the effects on people in different income categories. It shows that the benefits are overwhelmingly felt by the lower income categories. We always check this as part of the budget process, and we publish details on the income deciles to show who benefits across the spectrum.

The Deputy is correct about the cross-cutting nature of this. We work all the time with other Departments in various high-level groups, including with health and education, to make sure that the issues are joined up. As senior civil servants, it is our job to make sure that the system stays connected and that we are raising issues across government.

Mr. Egan outlined new measures around the budget. As part of the programme for Government, we are working on a range of measures. We have had a discussion with the Chair around the second-tier child benefit. We are also looking at a working-age payment, because one of the issues is that we want to make sure that work pays off for people and that our system is flexible enough for people when they combine work and welfare. We want to make sure that this benefits people.

Regarding the real-time tracking of poverty data, as Mr. Egan outlined earlier, we will be publishing regular updates and dashboards that will track key indicators of our progress towards the target. While it is a 2030 target, there will be much more regular reporting throughout the year.