Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I do not know whether many of the people who have approached me concerning sending their children back to school have been on holidays. It is unfair to claim that people will spend the money on holidays or so on. They receive the allowance because their incomes are low and they could not otherwise afford sending their children back to school. Their incomes are so low that, for many, holidays are something about which they have heard but of which they have not had the pleasure of experiencing. People will not collect the allowance to go on holidays. The Minister's unfair comment immediately creates the notion that people on such allowances are scamming the system or do not need them, but they need them to send their children back to school.

Much of what I will say will relate to child poverty levels, which I will also discuss during the debate on the next amendment. As is evident from Deputy Kathleen Lynch's examples, the provisions in the Bill will not help people sufficiently. The Minister must consider the scheme's operation. If savings can be made through operating it more efficiently, people can avail of it, which we would all like to be the case.

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