Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Today, the rate is still below where it was in 2008, despite the fact that we have €24 billion of a surplus. That is how children were made to pay during the austerity period and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will not deal with it. That is why child poverty is getting worse under Fine Gael's watch.

That is why there are 30,000 more children in material deprivation under Fine Gael's watch. This is the politics of today. These are the consequences of the Government's decision and the decision to slash that support in the first instance by both parties and then to decide to keep it at that level. It is a mistake, and a mistake that parents will pay a very heavy price for.

The first test of a republic is how to protect the most vulnerable. The decision to increase payments for citizens with disabilities by only €12, given the high cost of disability, is simply unacceptable. What should have been provided is what Sinn Féin proposed, which is a €20 increase in the weekly rate of disability-related payments. We also proposed the most substantial package of supports ever presented by any party for carers in a single budget. That means the means test, which we all know unfairly excludes thousands of carers from receiving the carers allowance, being abolished. That is why we are very clear that Sinn Féin in government will abolish the means test for carers. Starting this year, it should start with a significant expansion of the scheme. We called for increasing the threshold for carers from €900 to €1,460 for a couple. That is five times what the Government did last year and ten times what the Government announced this year.

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