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

I would make the case that an intervention of more than €500 million outside the budgetary context is not insignificant. That is an important intervention by the Government and almost €400 million of that is going to everyone, in a universal sense, through the electricity credit. Many people are badly in need of that and want to see it applied to their electricity accounts as quickly as possible.

We are seeing a strong rebound in the economy. Almost 2.5 million people are now at work in Ireland, which is more than ever before. We are seeing a recovery that is accelerating faster than many people predicted. That is not to understate the challenges that are there. The Government is continuing to monitor the situation. We acknowledge the pressures people are under but some of the measures we have announced have yet to take effect. Some of the measures in the budget we announced last October, such as the improvement to childcare provision and childcare fees, the improvements in third level grants and SUSI grants, and measures to improve the eligibility thresholds, have yet to kick in.

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