Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Better Outcomes Brighter Futures is a framework and a national policy being developed by my colleague in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. It is a collaborative report among different Departments, including my Department and the Department of Education and Skills. We might be able to do some analysis of the exact specifics the Deputy is looking at within the confines of that interaction. In an attempt to be honest not just to the Deputy but the House, if I have extra money in this area, my priority is to bring the 130,000 or so children who live in consistent poverty out of consistent poverty as opposed to helping middle class families, and I do not mean to be mean about that. When we are looking at our social transfers, we must look at the most vulnerable people to make sure we actually give them a much larger lift in their living standards as opposed to just slightly improving other people's living standards. However, I will ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to have a look at the actual number of people and the amount of money it would cost. We might come back to the Deputy and have a further discussion.

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