Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

She should welcome the move we have made in that regard. We have to do more, but there is a €300 million package alone for the lowest income. Look at the objective assessment. The Labour Party should acknowledge that the two lowest-income deciles will benefit the most from this budget. That is the reality.

In terms of disability, there are significant increases in a range of payments, particularly the disability pension, but also in terms of the domiciliary care allowance, which is going up a further €20 on top of last year's increase, and that is right and proper. There is work under way in respect of the cost of disability. There is a huge increase in the disability budget this year. There is in the order of 20% of an increase in the disability budget in terms of the services for people with disabilities, and that is right and proper. We are going to continue to prioritise disability and child poverty.

In terms of infrastructure, if we look at education investment in terms of more schools, that affects workers. They want their children to have access to education services. The capitation grants are going up by record levels. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, secured €50 in terms of primary and €20 in post primary. They are very significant on top of the increases we have had in previous years. That is all recognising the impact of the cost of living on schools and services. We have a rising population and we have an infrastructure deficit. The workers of this country need their jobs protected, and we need to be creating new types of jobs for the future. That is going to happen because of the investment we have committed to, which is more long term but we are doing it, in building the roads, hospitals and schools and in terms of investment in research and development. We did a lot in the late 1990s and early 2000s in research, which laid the foundations for jobs that we have today - high-quality, high-value jobs - both in foreign direct investment and in terms of the domestic economy. The measures in the budget on the taxation side for research and development and in terms of what the Minister, Deputy Lawless, has in his budget and the NDP, which is very much enhanced, will make a significant step change in research in this country. That guarantees jobs in the future. It does not guarantee votes in the short term, by the way, but it is the right thing to do for the country. It is the right thing to do. I am trying to move away from short-termism and in this first budget we want to lay foundations that will sustain the economy.

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