Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tell me which of the payments you do not want, please, and let me know. Any other Opposition parties can email me at simon.harris@oireachtas.ie and let me know me what payments they do not want. I would really like to hear from them in relation to that.

I stand by every single decision we made in the budget last week. This was a budget that did a number of things. It provided a cost-of-living package in the here and now – more than €2 billion of people's own money – quite rightly. It is not bribery. It is called listening to people and delivering. It is called acting on what they said: "Give us a little bit of help, Simon. Help us now." That is what we did.

It also sets aside money for infrastructure - €1.2 billion more for the Land Development Agency. Some parties want to abolish that. We are putting more money into building houses. There is €1 billion more for water. That will certainly help water schemes in my constituency, and in many constituencies throughout the country. There is €750 million more for the grid.

There will be a number of initiatives in 2025, including extra funding for disability and mental health. The budget was also a record one for justice, health and education. Holiday hunger was also included in the budget. There is a recognition from the Government that the kids who get school meals might also be hungry when the school is closed during the summer. We extended the free schoolbooks scheme so the Deputy's constituents will never again have to pay for schoolbooks from when their child starts in junior infants until they finish the leaving certificate.

There is clearly a real policy difference between us on this. I do not believe at all, despite the manufactured efforts at faux outrage, that the people have bought into this thing about the pouches at all, in terms of how the Deputy is putting it. We delivered a budget of more than €105 billion. As part of that, we are giving every kid €20 for a phone pouch, if they want it. If they do not want it, they do not have to have it.

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