Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy was on a roll and I did not want to stop him. I would like to echo what Deputy McAuliffe said. This budget is putting money back into people's pockets through decreases in taxation, the one-off measures and the substantial social welfare increases across the board. It is only possible because of prudent financial management over the last decade and of course, the extraordinary response of the Irish people in jobs and companies up and down the country during the course of the pandemic. That only happened because of the level of support that was provided by the Government over the past three years.

One of the most important aspects of the budget is the elements that have been put in place for one-off supports because of the cost-of-living crisis, such as the €600 being provided over three payments to households for the purposes of supporting them because of rising inflationary elements in energy costs. There is also recognition that those payments will not cover all of the energy increases and that is why the social welfare budget has been increased to include one-off payments, double payments and additional supports. In January of next year, we will see the ninth increase in the minimum wage take effect. That is the ninth increase since my party entered government in March 2011.

We will further invest in An Garda Síochána, keeping our streets safe and following up on commitments we gave to adequately resource our Defence Forces in line with the Commission on the Defence Forces. This is extremely important not just because of the current global environment but also because we want to honour the men and women in uniform and ensure they have the appropriate equipment to deal with the task we set out before them.

In just three minutes it is hard to cover all of the territory but I will focus on three important areas. First is the investment in housing that Deputy McAuliffe closed his contribution on. I echo his remarks about those making comments on housing while ignoring the work that is going on in the background and the increased budget that Department has been given. I note both education Departments and the likes of free school books at primary level, the reduction in and rebate on third level fees, and the increase in the numbers of those who will eligible for the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant. Lowering income tax for middle-income workers is a very important aspect of this budget. Whether it is the average, mean or median wage level in the State, the taxation measures will actually support them. Finally, I refer to the importance of the State running a budget surplus when so many around us are not. Investing for the future and ensuring that if there is another hiccup along the road, we are adequately resourced to respond to it is almost as important as the €11 billion in this budget.

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