Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is great to see the Ceann Comhairle back and that his alertness has not diminished in any way.

I agree with Deputy McGuinness and commend the Minister on her acute understanding of different families in different anomalous situations and her capacity to respond in that regard. It is a feature of the Bill. Maybe her experience in credit unions has stood to her.

I commend her on the consistent progress she is making in tackling poverty. The latest data from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show that the number of families in consistent poverty has halved since 2016, down now to just 4%. That is still 4% too many but significant progress has been made. It is especially encouraging to see the substantial number of children being taken out of poverty. Key measures, such as the increase of nearly 60% in the child dependent payment, from less than €32 to €50, for a child of 12 or over, have helped in that regard.

That has been very significant, especially in its extension to those on low pay who are in work. The national childcare scheme, though not in the Minister's remit, is also significant in extending support to families who really need it and have children who can benefit from early childhood education, and the opportunities to train and work, which the Minister has pioneered. The House should recall that Ireland has one of the most effective tax and welfare income schemes for tackling poverty and helping people in their position. This year's budget is particularly effective, and I commend the Minister and her colleagues on identifying families at risk who might otherwise have been overlooked, renters, carers, the low paid at work, and those with children and students. The help for those groups has been particularly significant.

In the present climate, I also commend the Minister on her approach to energy poverty. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, told us before the budget that 30% of people were exposed to energy poverty but, after the budget, it concluded that those people had been protected. The budget has been very effective. At €1,324, the fuel scheme is now more than double what it was just four years ago. The broadening of the scheme to those aged 70 and over is very welcome. I particularly welcome the removal of the anomaly Deputy McGuinness talked about, that of those public servants who would have been excluded. Many of those people will get the household benefit of €1,750. Such older families will really benefit.

The warmer homes scheme is very welcome because it is not just helping people this winter; it is helping them forevermore in their homes. A benefit of up to €2,000 for delivering those warmer home measures has now been extended to the low paid at work, those on domiciliary care allowance, those carers who are living in, and those on disability allowance who have children. This is a very significant, permanent shift in helping us to tackle poverty, especially energy poverty.

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