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

First, I would like to restate the budget priorities that I have stated now on a number of occasions but I will do it again in the House so that everyone can hear it. My first priority in this budget is to balance the books, and to do so for the first time in ten years. What that means, roughly speaking, is for the first time in ten years the amount that we take in in terms of revenue will match what goes out in spending. That is the prudent thing to do. I am pleased to hear that the party opposite, Fianna Fáil, support that. I would like to hear from Sinn Féin as to whether it will also support our policy of balancing the books and doing so for the first time because that is the prudent thing to do and that is the thing that matters most for children because they are the ones who bear the consequences in the future of bad economic policy and they are the ones who would bear the consequence of us continuing to increase our debt.

We are not going to do that. We are going to balance the books and reduce the debt. That is the right thing to do for families and particularly for children. They are the ones who bear the long-term consequences of bad economic policies.

Our second priority is additional funding for public services and infrastructure. We anticipate spending increases of between €1.5 billion and €2 billion next year. Most of that is down to demographics. Most of it is commitments already made. There will not be huge scope for additional announcements on budget day but there will still be a significant increase in public spending next year, to improve public services and infrastructure. After that, we will find some space to improve the take-home pay and living standards of people in Ireland who go to work, namely, the 1.4 million taxpayers. I think they deserve something because it is the work they do and the taxes they pay that allow everything else to be possible.

In terms of what we have done for families - I am not just talking about Fine Gael here - successive Governments of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Labour Party and Independents have brought child benefit to one of the highest rates in Europe. We brought in a free pre-school year and then brought in a second one. We increased the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance by 25% in the most recent summer period. For the first time, we brought in subsidies for child care, which took effect in September. The Minister, Deputy Katherine Zappone, who is in the Chamber, led the initiative on that. We also brought in GP care without any charge for children aged under six. We are going to build on that as well. That is just by way of example of the kind of things that every other party in this House has done for young families. What has Sinn Féin ever done for young families?

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