Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In general, if a Minister makes a statement on one of these matters, do we ask the Minister whether he or she has included it in the expenditure ceiling for his or her Department over the coming three years or do we ask the Minister, Deputy Howlin, to validate it? I ask because, in January, a Minister announced that the public sector pension levy was likely to be reduced. On 13 January, another Government source suggested working parents were in line for tax breaks and subsidies for child care and promised a second free preschool year, while on 14 January another Government source suggested property owners were going to be encouraged to enter rent certainty leases and possibly get tax breaks for them. On 21 January, the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, said he was confident two weeks of paid paternity leave was coming and then the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, said a wage-led recovery including a minimum living wage of €11.50 per hour was also under consideration. Where are we with all this?

See this speech in context