Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

I recently met MABS and was taken aback by the range of issues people had. I have listened attentively to what the Minister said today about cost-of-living measures. I acknowledge those actions. In the past three years, however, there have been a range of one-off cost-of-living measures in budgets, which have been welcomed. I want to get all the nonsense out of the way and ask definitively if the Minister of Finance is saying there will no one-off cost-of-living measures in this year's budget. There will be nothing for people with disabilities as there was in the past, or the fuel allowance for older people, double child benefit for families or energy credits for households, etc. Will the Minister confirm to the House, because there has been so much speculation and narrative, that there will not be any of these? There may be other long-term measures, but there will not be one-off cost-of-living measures in the budget.

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