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

I join in offering condolences to the family and friends of Ms Emma Mhic Mhathúna, particularly her five children Natasha, James, Mario, Oisin and Donnacha who, obviously, are foremost in our minds today. Like all Members, I am filled with sorrow that she has passed on at such a young age. I did not know her but, like many people, feel as though I did. She fought like a lioness to protect and provide for her children. She was witty and had a wonderful way with words. Those words forced us to act. In recent months, she was very understanding of the efforts we were making to put things right. I hope that something good will come of this tragedy. I hope that we can, to the greatest extent possible, eliminate cervical cancer in Ireland by extending the HPV vaccine to boys and improving our screening system while also building a health service which is more open, honest and respectful of patients. That is the type of legacy we should try to achieve in respect of her death. Our condolences go to all of her family.

As always, the budget is about many things, one of which is housing. Overall, it is prudent and responsible and balances the books for the first time in ten years, something Sinn Féin is opposed to doing. The Government has ensured that the budget is Brexit proof and has provided a rainy day fund which Sinn Féin also opposes. It will put money back in the pockets of the entire population through mechanisms such as reductions in tax and USC, increases in welfare, pay and pensions and measures to reduce the cost of living. There was a major increase in investment in health, housing and education, with it being the biggest budget ever for each of those Departments.

In making budget decisions, we decided it appropriate to put money back in everyone’s pocket, which is why we reduced USC and income tax for well over 1 million people. Sinn Féin proposed income tax relief only for those who are renting. I understand why the party wants to do that. People are struggling to pay rent but people are also struggling to pay mortgages or other bills or to put together a deposit to buy a house and the Sinn Féin plan provided nothing for any such people; it only wanted to give income tax relief to renters. The Government decided to do things more broadly and I very much stand over that decision.

The budget provides the biggest provision ever for housing, allocating €2.3 billion, a 26% increase on last year.

See this speech in context