Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I accept the Minister of State has been honest. However, his reply worries me and I am concerned that these services are under threat at present, particularly those pertaining to the most vulnerable in society. Given the good work done over the years, it is highly important that the Minister of State and his senior colleague should fight to ensure that such funding is put in place. It is the most vulnerable who are affected and who are protected and identified in these schemes.

I was going to refer to the mini-budget but I mean the fifth budget in recent times. As I noted last night in the House, we used to have a budget once a year but last year we had two. We now are into the third month of the year and it looks as though we are going to have one each month. If this continues, we will have a budget every week. However the Minister of State should protect the most vulnerable in society in respect of this issue.

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