Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)

I welcome the focus the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach have placed on child poverty in their public comments in the run-up to the budget. However, will they take steps to address child poverty among that cohort of children who are most vulnerable, the 9,000 children in the international protection system? Children in the international protection system get €29.80 per week; that is it. This figure was last increased in 2018. The Tánaiste knows the child poverty unit in the Department of the Taoiseach drafted proposals to address this. He will have seen them, I saw them and the now Taoiseach would have seen them last year. Money was actually put aside last year to address this but we never got it over the line. Does the Tánaiste agree with me that €29.80 per week is not enough to give any child a decent standard of living? Will this year's budget contain financial measures to address child poverty among children living in the international protection system?

See this speech in context