Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for highlighting a practical example of how equality budgeting has to be part of the decision-making process. When the Government, for example, decides to increase carbon tax, how will it ensure that people who are the most impacted are protected from that? That is why the decision has been made, for example, to provide some of those resources to deal with fuel poverty, to support schemes provided for by the Department of Social Protection and to provide significant funding for retrofitting. An ambitious programme of retrofitting is being implemented across the social housing programme. The Deputy is well familiar with the work the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is doing in that regard.

The interdepartmental group for equality budgeting is doing excellent work. It is facilitating the embedding of the initiative across all Departments. Equality budgeting does not belong to just one Department. It has to be a whole-of-government approach to make sure all of our decisions are guided by equality considerations.

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