Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We must target the money to ensure it goes to the children who require it most.

I welcome the changes to the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme. That is money well spent. All of the longitudinal studies show that money spent on early education is superbly well spent.

The local property tax freeze will not be welcomed by our friends in opposition who tried to scare the daylights out of people by claiming it would increase by between €500 and €2,000 and that people would get nothing for that money. If one looks at the figures, 40% of properties are in band 1, which means owners are liable for €90 per year. I welcome the fact that the rates are being frozen and accept Senator O'Brien's point about properties in Dublin. That said, Dublin gets a far larger spend in terms of education, transport and so on, which cannot be ignored.