Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

The Minister is doing a great deal of cherry-picking in that she is taking the line of reports which back up what she is saying and is stating other reports which do not agree with her are "interesting". The Minister needs to take on board what the Vincentian Partnership had to say. A person who moves from living in a two person household to a one person household is given an increase of €7.70. The Minister is correct that there has been no increase in this payment since 1996. It has not been increased as long as this Government has been in office.

What does the Minister mean when she says she will keep this matter under review? This to me appears pretty meaningless in a situation where everything but clothes and a little extra fuel must be paid for by one person rather than two.

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