Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To provide further support to families raising children, two double payments of child benefit will be made to all qualifying households in November and December. There will also be a double payment of the foster care allowance. To ensure our supports are targeted to those families who need them most, a €400 lump-sum payment will be made to recipients of the working family payment later this year. The budget also provides a lump-sum payment of €100 per child to recipients of the qualified child increase payments.

When we talk about the future of Ireland, we are not just talking about our infrastructure or economy. Fundamentally, we are talking about the young people who will go on to lead and look after our society and country. Today, I am allocating €8.3 billion to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with investment in early learning and childcare increasing to nearly €1.4 billion. Funding for the national childcare scheme will increase by 44%. What does this mean? This investment means that next year parents will see full-time childcare costs reduce even further by an additional €1,100. In addition, the number of children availing of this scheme is set to increase to 216,000 in 2025.

A €336 million increase is being provided for disability services to provide additional residential care beds, more respite, more home support hours and a day service place for school leavers. We will increase the Tusla budget to €1.2 billion to provide more residential placements, increase therapeutic services and provide payments for foster carers for initial placements.

EDUCATION

At the core of how we create a brighter future for our young people and country is education. Developing a dynamic, inclusive and affordable education system allows us to build the Ireland of tomorrow. That is why, in education, a capital allocation of €1.3 billion will support 350 building projects that are currently under way, as well as a further 200 new school projects. Budget 2025 will provide the funding for 768 additional special education teachers and a further 1,600 special needs assistants.

Building on the success of the Keeping Childhood Smartphone Free initiative, 2025 will see the roll-out of supports to allow our post-primary schools to do just that during the school day. This policy is about how we support the well-being of our children and give them the best possible learning environment. The budget will also see a substantial increase in funding for the school transport scheme in recognition of its importance in providing access for children living remote from their nearest school.

Reducing the cost of education is a priority for this Government. I am providing funding to extend the free schoolbooks initiative to all transition and senior cycle pupils in recognised post-primary schools within the free education scheme. Just as education is one component in ensuring a thriving country, so is feeling supported in times of ill health.

HEALTH

In July, I reached an important agreement with the Department of Health and the HSE to provide additional funding of €2.7 billion for the health sector over two years. It provides a stable funding plan, bringing the total health allocation to €25.76 billion. We agreed that this additional funding would support better financial planning and governance, establishing a clearer link between this level of funding and the improved health outcomes that are happening.

Our health service workers are central to this work. In 2025, the numbers working in our health service, not including disability services, will reach over 130,000 whole-time equivalents, an increase of 27% since 2019. The budget will also include funding for a range of new measures that will increase access, affordability and capacity in our health service, including the introduction of 495 new beds to our health service across hospital and community services, bringing the total number of beds to over 18,000; 600,000 additional home support hours; and continued support for women’s health measures, including increased access to IVF and hormone replacement therapy free of charge.

This budget will also include funding to facilitate the continued development and improvement of mental health services, as set out in the national mental health strategy, Sharing the Vision. Implementing this strategy is an important commitment in the programme for Government and it is a huge priority for the Government, the Department of Health and the HSE. That is why the funding provided in this budget will enable enhanced provision of services, including with regard to youth mental health services; counselling for the Traveller community; suicide bereavement counselling; the CyberSafeKids initiative; and additional children and adolescent mental health services. This budget ensures the health service is well funded and is able to deliver better access and better health outcomes into the future.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND BETTER PUBLIC SERVICES

Now, governments all over the world, are encountering new and varied challenges linked to climate change, public health, security and more. We want to provide the necessary infrastructure and the right level of growth in services to ensure they deliver for all our citizens, whether they were born here or chose to make their home here. This is an absolute priority for this Government - the right infrastructure in the right place-----

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