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

We have done a lot in two years and, yes, we have a lot more to do in the next two or three years. Allow me to put on record just a few examples of the good things this Government is doing. We have invested €40 billion to help businesses and workers get through Covid, doing so through the pandemic unemployment payment and the employment wage subsidy scheme. We have the highest number of people at work in the history of the State, at 2.5 million people, with jobs growth in every region and full employment now within grasp. I refer to the biggest job increases in the south east and the south west, as well as the lowest unemployment now down the western seaboard, including the north-west region. There have been record levels of foreign direct investment, FDI. Trade with other countries has never been higher. That underpins living standards breaking all records.

We are introducing paid sick leave for all workers because nobody should feel under pressure to go to work when unwell. The sick leave that we will pay will be more in a day than Sinn Féin gives in a week in Northern Ireland. We have increased the minimum wage and are moving towards a living wage. We have a new law planned on the right to request remote working. We are building infrastructure, with 400 hubs nationwide. There will be a new public holiday in February. New laws to protect workers' tips and service charges will be passed this week. We are introducing a basic income scheme for artists and have doubled spending on the arts, ahead of schedule. We have an auto-enrolment scheme so that everybody who is at work has an occupational pension on top of the State pension. There are new laws to protect consumers from being taken advantage of, as well as an insurance plan that is bringing down motor premiums and has outlawed the loyalty penalty. There is a new retrofitting scheme for warmer homes that are cheaper to heat. There is a new corporate enforcement agency to crack down on corporate crime. We are helping businesses to restructure and survive, such as through the small company administrative rescue process, for example, which offers a cheaper and much quicker alternative to examinership. We are providing funding for businesses to go digital and funding to help them reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Low cost loans to help businesses with Covid, Brexit and future expansion are being made available.

For children and families, there is seven weeks of paid parent's leave, an increased back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, five new technological universities, an increase in the student grant, expansion of the school meals programme, no charge for school transport and an increase in grants for postgraduates. There has been significant investment in special education, with record numbers of special needs assistants in classrooms and more special education teachers. There are more special classes than ever before. There are more pathways for people to get the career they want, with 10,000 new apprentices a year by 2025 alone. I could go on but, in so doing, in many ways I would be repeating what was said earlier.

I will come to my third point. We have heard a lot about change from the Members opposite tonight, but all change is not good. Brexit, Trump, Chavez and Lenin all promised radical change. The change happened but that change made things worse for most people.

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