Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----on working people. We managed to take 330,000 people out of the universal social charge. We reversed the cut in the minimum wage and in this year's budget we are providing free GP care to children aged under six years.

The second ESRI report looked at the impact of social transfers in reducing the risk of poverty and the findings are unambiguous. Social transfers, including pensions, have reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate by 71%. In other words, seven out of every ten people in society would be regarded as being at increased risk of poverty without the redistribution provided for by the social protection system. The report shows that Ireland is in the top section of 15 EU member states for the effectiveness of social transfers in reducing poverty and that the welfare system is playing a pivotal role in alleviating poverty in Ireland.

No one is attempting to argue that the budget measures can be sugar-coated. The main issue is that we have now reached a point where we know that the Government's approach is working. Jobs are being created again and this creation of employment and the growth in the economy will generate the revenues to enable us ensure that people can have hope of a better future and allow us to consider making improvements.

See this speech in context