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

I thank the Deputy. Those are very fair and legitimate questions to ask but I cannot answer them today because the Government has not made decisions in respect of the measures that expire at the end of February. We will do so, however, and we will make sure that people have certainty long before the end of February comes. What we have done to help people with the cost of living is a combination of one-off and temporary measures and also permanent measures. That should be acknowledged. The reduction in the cost of childcare is permanent and I would like to go further again in the budget later this year. The increase in pensions and weekly welfare payments of an extra €12 a week is also permanent, as are the extension of the fuel allowance, the reduction in income taxes and the rent tax credit. The increase in the national minimum wage, above the rate of inflation last year, will be built on next year. In addition, there are increases in public sector pay and in some of the parts of the private sector that are governed by employment regulation orders. So long as this Government is in office and we pursue the economic policies that we have been pursuing, keep the public finances in order and there is no change of Government, people can be confident that those measures will be permanent.

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