Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be fair to the Deputy, he had to finish his script. The social protection budget is unprecedented in its scale. It is an enormous provision that is necessary to help people in very difficult financial positions right across the board. The budget was particularly strong in measures targeted at those most vulnerable to falling into poverty. The expansion of the schools meals programme is an example, along with increasing child dependant allowances. To be fair to the Ministers for Social Protection and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputies Humphreys and Michael McGrath, they worked to ensure funding was targeted to prevent those groups most likely to fall into poverty from falling into poverty. That will continue to be our focus.

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