Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Did I say 1,800? My apologies. I am getting carried away. There will also be 500 civilian workers.

We now have a debate on child care and an investment in child care that is unprecedented. Do we have a distance to go? Yes, we do. However, to my mind we are coming from pretty much the dark ages and a lot of that is related to the position which women occupied for a long time in this society but is being broken through. There are new attitudes about child care and shared responsibility between men and women. We are a truly modern society and, therefore, we will have more issues concerning affluence and how we distribute wealth.

One of the cornerstones of what Fine Gael has had to say and has been supported in this budget is rewarding people who work hard. Without that, no taxes are generated. I understand the arguments relating to VAT, etc.

A matter I have raised in this House time and again is the renewable heat incentive scheme. A sum of €17 million has been announced to set that under way. I consider that very welcome. Not only will it help farmers and small businesses to displace fossil fuels but it will help us to achieve our renewable heat targets. On the €300 million being made available in a Brexit loan scheme for small and medium enterprises which will also assist the food industry, that has proven very successful on the farming side and I know that further measures for farmers will be considered. All of these are practical measures. I welcome this budget and look forward to seeing its implementation and the benefits on the ground for our citizens, society and country.