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

Child poverty and well-being will certainly be a theme in the budget when it is announced on Tuesday. If we go back to 2013 and the aftermath of the great recession, approximately 13% of children experienced consistent poverty, the worst form of poverty. That had fallen to approximately 5% by 2021. It has gone up again slightly because of the cost-of-living crisis. We are determined to bring it back down again. I cannot obviously make any commitments on what is or is not in the budget until it is agreed and presented to Cabinet on Tuesday.

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