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

I want to acknowledge at the outset that a lot of people and a lot of families are struggling with the cost of living and are struggling to make ends meet. Nobody on the Government side would deny that for a second. I do not know if it is correct to say that one in ten Irish families have gone to a food bank. That would be 200,000 families. I am not sure if that figure is correct but it is certainly more than it used to be and nobody is going to deny that. We see it as well in second exceptional needs payments where people go to the Department of Social Protection and to their community welfare officer. They look for help and get it. The numbers getting it are increasing. I believe that system is working, maybe not as well as it might work, but it is working. What we will consider over the next few weeks is which supports can continue into March and April and which ones cannot. We do have to balance the books and have regard to other demands on the public purse. One thing I will say is that we will bear in mind those who need the help the most and make sure that whatever package we put together is targeted.

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