Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I extend a very warm welcome to all the groups in the Public Gallery referred to by Deputy Cairns. Tá fáilte rompu go léir.

Parents across Ireland are under enormous pressure to meet extortionate back to school costs. It is a big source of stress for families every summer but this year is exceptional, given the ever worsening cost-of-living crisis. For weeks, we have been telling the Government that parents face huge back to school costs now and that an autumn budget would be far too late for families. Time and again, Ministers lined up to parrot the Government mantra that budget 2023, which is almost three months away, was the only way for the Government to help. Then, at dinner time yesterday, after weeks of stubbornness and just two hours before a Sinn Féin motion calling on the Government to act, its position changed. Suddenly, it was possible for the Government to step in with an increase in the rate of the back to school allowance for those already in receipt of that payment. The Minister could have saved all those families weeks of worry by making this announcement and taking this decision sooner. However, I welcome the Government's U-turn. I am glad it has finally listened to the Opposition, at least in part. Any extra financial support for families on fixed and low incomes struggling to make it to the end of the week is a very good thing.

There is problem, however. The Government has left behind middle-income families, who are in dire straits. Any family with a household income of €621 a week will not get a red cent of back to school allowance. A household income of €621 a week is modest. These are families who receive very little support from the State but are now fighting to stay afloat. The Government has left behind these families, who struggle to pay the mortgage or rent and who cannot afford to put fuel in the car to get to work or pay extortionate energy bills. These families' grocery bills are through the roof to such an extent that many have started to cut back on basics. Many of these families have used their savings or maxed out their credit cards trying to keep up, and now they have nowhere left to turn. When the Government had an opportunity to make a big difference, it settled instead for half measures. Middle-income parents went out to work this morning feeling let down again. Many of them have no idea where they will get hundreds of euro to send their children back to school in September. When they ask why they have been left out, what will the Minister's answer be?

Ní mór an liúntas éadaí agus coisbhirt don scoilbhliain nua a mhéadú chuig teaghlaigh atá ar mheánioncaim, atá fágtha ina dhiaidh ag an Rialtas. Ní féidir leo na costais ollmhóra a bhaineann lena bpáistí a thabhairt ar ais chuig an seomra ranga i mí Mheán Fómhair a íoc.

I am always amazed at the ability of this Government to refuse to do those things that patently need to be done and to do them correctly and fully. The Dáil will rise for the summer next week so time is running out for us. I am asking the Minister at this juncture to listen to the Opposition again and do the right thing. I am asking him to expand the back to school payment to cover an additional 500,000 children, whose middle-income parents are in desperate need of support. The Minister holds the purse strings. He can make this happen. This is an existing scheme. We want the Government to expand it. We are appealing to the Government not to pack up for the summer having left these families behind.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy McDonald for raising the issue of back to school costs, which are a serious issue for thousands of families across Ireland at this time. We have said all along, and we are sticking to this position, that the budget will be on 27 September. This week we published the summer economic statement, which sets out what the underlying position is with the public finances. It means we can have a budget package in the autumn of €6.7 billion, €5.7 billion of which will be on the expenditure side, including investment in public services, improvements in public service pay, improvements in social welfare and so on. Another €1 billion will be on the tax side. We have also given a commitment that, in parallel with that, we will have a separate package of one-off measures that will be focused on the cost-of-living crisis that many families are facing. Not everyone is facing it but some families are and we acknowledge that. They need help. That is why, even outside of the normal budgetary cycle, we have made so many different interventions across this year, including a reduction in VAT on gas and electricity and a reduction in the excise duty on petrol and diesel. Both of those measures continue. The bullet payments on the fuel allowance, the reductions in public transport fares and reductions in the costs of medicines for families are just a few examples of what we have done outside the normal budgetary cycle.

We acknowledge that at this time of year there are extra pressures on families arising from the costs that need to be paid in July and August in the context of going back to school. That is why we have made this further very targeted intervention. These are time-sensitive costs. Waiting until the end of September in respect of these costs is not something we can stand over. That is why we have made an intervention that represents a significant investment, €67 million in total, by increasing the rate of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance to €260 for younger children and €385 for older children. That will benefit more than 260,000 children across over 150,000 families. In the budget, we also made a change to the eligibility criteria by matching the income test for single parents with that that applies to couples. That was an important change that expanded the availability of the allowance for single parents, who have to carry a lot of costs that they cannot share with a partner. We think that was the right move. In addition, we are waiving school transport scheme charges for the coming school year, which will save up to €500 for individual families. That will be particularly welcomed by families in rural Ireland, many of whom rely on the school transport scheme and who otherwise would be facing long journeys and commutes. We all know what the cost of fuel is like at this point in time.

Significantly, we are expanding the free school meals programme to all DEIS schools. In the most recent budget, we added about 300 extra DEIS schools to the programme and we are now extending the free meals programme to DEIS schools across the system, and the hot meals programme to DEIS primary schools. That means an extra 60,000 children will receive a hot meal in school. That is a very important intervention. We all know the value of ensuring children are properly fed so they can avail fully of the potential the education system affords them. This is an important intervention by the Government. Does it go as far as some people would like? Of course it does not. Will it offset all the costs? We never claimed it would. However, it will be of assistance to many thousands of families. These are targeted measures with regard to the back to school allowance and the extension of hot meals to children attending DEIS schools. They are very targeted measures which people will benefit from.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government took its time listening to what is just plain common sense by making a move on these matters now in July and putting money in families' pockets when they need it and when it will count.

I ask the Minister to take the next step. He is surely not saying to families who have €621 a week that they are home and hosed, and that it is plain sailing for them. We describe these families as middle-income families. It is not; it is a very modest income. As the Minister knows, these families cannot qualify for many of the State supports that others on lower incomes can qualify for. Is the Minister saying to these families that they are on their own? He cannot do that. I appreciate the need for targeted measures. The Minister has borrowed from our proposals and I want him to complete the journey. We proposed a targeted approach. We are with him on that. He has to address the fact that he has left substantial numbers of families and children struggling. I want him to extend this scheme to capture those 500,000 children, who need this. Regardless of the Minister not going far enough in the political discourse, this is about families, and I ask him to simply follow the logic of his own argument and do the right thing.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are income limits associated with this scheme. The Deputy quoted the lowest one. It depends on the number of children a person has. Certain incomes are excluded from consideration and are not reckonable, including housing assistance payment, working family payment, rent supports and so on. The Deputy is now advocating for the very families she believes should be paying 50% income tax rates. These are families earning €700 or €800 per week. In the last budget, the Government gave an individual earning €700 a week an extra €400 and an extra €800 to a couple. I do not think the Deputy's newfound advocacy for these middle-income families will really fool anyone. Anyone looking at Sinn Féin's last pre-budget submission will see it did not propose a single euro of an increase in the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. I looked at the three emergency budgets proposed by Sinn Féin in the last weeks. There was no mention of back-to-school or back-to-education costs. Sinn Féin said the package was €1.3 billion, then suddenly it came up with another package of €160 million to tackle back-to-school costs.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is within that envelope.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That is not going to fool anyone. The Government has adopted a coherent strategy.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government has left those families behind. It is disgraceful.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

This is an important intervention and we will do more in September when the budget comes.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government has abandoned them.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I ask Deputies to please calm down.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We are perfectly happy.