Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I also oppose this section. The issue of child poverty should be central to social welfare. In the framing of this budget, what analysis was done with regard to its impact on child poverty? Even before the budget was announced, Barnardo's estimated that some 130,000 children were living in poverty. We could fill both Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium with the number of children living in poverty. I would have thought that this group would have been one of the first groups to be considered in the framing of a budget and that the impact of any cuts on this group would have been evaluated. It seems that the headline rates have been protected for one reason, because they are the ones that make the news. The impact of the cuts we are discussing here is more fragmented and is personal to the individuals who must work out how they will be absorbed. This is quite cynical.

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