Margaret Cox (Fianna Fail)

To follow up on Senator Terry's remarks, I thank the Minister and his officials for their work on this Bill. As I said yesterday and as the Minister would have said, a social welfare package of an additional €1.5 billion on top of last year's package of €12 billion is a great deal of money. It will make a real difference to every person and family in this country. This is the one Department that impacts on everybody from the moment we are born and throughout our lives until we pass away. I thank the Minister for his reflections on issues raised by Senator Terry, the Labour Party and Senators on this side of the House. I compliment him on his openness to at least consider change. His legacy to the Department will be that he was a Minister who was willing to listen and implement change where possible. He referred to this as a two-part package. We look forward to next year and have no doubt that the package introduced then will be one of which we will also proud.

I wish everybody here a happy Christmas.