Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Let us never do anything like that again. Although it was indicated by one source that the tax break could be worth €500, €100 is the correct figure. It is most welcome. I hope the Department of Finance will get a grip on Irish Water before it does any more damage.

I note the measures on tourism and alcohol. I will be in Cork over the weekend and will look to see if Father Mathew is still there. I have never seen a combination of the revived Father Mathew types and DUP extras from the “devil’s buttermilk” school who have been denouncing drink and calling for huge increases in tax and minimum pricing. I hope they get out and enjoy themselves as a result of the budget and that tourism and hospitality develop as sectors. These puritans have been filling my mailbox with far too much material.

We need continual expenditure restraint and appraisal. All the public capital programme should be focused on social housing. If we try to increase the public capital programme by too much, building other things, it will push up the price of housing, which must be our priority. There is a very small increase for education overall, 0.7% in the Book of Estimates. It comprises a reduction at third level and the very welcome and necessary increases at primary level. I hope at some stage the need to invest in third level will be reconsidered. I hope Senator Colm Burke will advise on the €2.3 billion for prescription drugs. He has convinced the House for a long time that we pay far too much for drugs in Ireland. What would those drugs cost if we bought them in Spain?

I thank the Minister of State. I do not wish to intrude on other people’s time. We made much progress today, and the reform agenda must continue.