Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

It will require continuous targeted investment. We will be making choices in the context of budget 2026 regarding targeted supports for children and families. I look forward to the Deputy's support for those. In the context of the programme for Government, we will continue to retain the child poverty and well-being office in the Department of the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach made it very clear to me when I was appointed that child poverty is to be a major focus. We will continue to increase core welfare payments. We will be looking at increasing the child support payment as one of the targeted measures and looking at various pay-related benefits for parents that we discussed earlier. The programme for Government has a commitment to expand the fuel allowance to the working family payment, which will address the energy issues to which the Deputy referred. We have a focus on this within the programme for Government, which will be delivered upon. We are finalising our new child poverty target and the measures that will go with that in order to ensure that we achieve it. It will be ambitious, absolutely, but it has to be ambitious. We have to ensure that no child is left behind. I am certainly determined to ensure that will happen in the context of my Department.

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