Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, the Deputy is correct. The payment was cut twice by the Fine Gael-Labour Government, of which I was a member. Yes, I will be considering the rules around the scheme and the amounts paid in the context of the budget. However, I cannot make any commitments on the budget now.

Speaking of Governments, the Deputy’s party has been a member of the Government in Northern Ireland for quite some time. In case the Deputy does not know, the school uniform allowance in Northern Ireland comes to £35.75, or €44, for primary school children. For secondary school children it is between £73 and £78, or €88 and €95. The back to school allowance in Northern Ireland, where the Deputy’s party has been in government for a long time, is less than half what it is here. If there is a Border poll in the North, one of the strongest arguments for people to vote for Irish unity is so they can have a Fine Gael Government, in which case they will do much better than they do under Sinn Féin.

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