Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Acting Chairperson is looking well and decisive in the Chair.

Tá fáilte roimh an Aire. It is great to have her here. We had a great day in Roscommon with her recently. She gave us lots of money and we gave her lots of tea and buns as well. It was a great day for all.

Fianna Fáil supports this Bill brought forward by the Minister for Social Protection. The Minister requests to invoke Article 25.2.2° of the Constitution to request an early signature from the President once the Bill has passed through the Seanad and to seek a waiver from pre-legislative scrutiny as it is a budgetary matter, as the Minister pointed out. The measure will enable the Minister for Social Protection to ensure that a lump sum child benefit payment of €100 per child is paid in June of this year at an additional approximate cost of €122 million. In the challenging times we have, this will be very welcome to many families. The cost-of-living child benefit bonus payment of €100 will be paid to approximately 649,000 families in respect of approximately 1.2 million children at a cost of about €120 million.

The Government is acutely aware of the effect that high energy prices and the cost of living are having on families, businesses and the most vulnerable in our society. In recognition of those ongoing challenges, the Government agreed a new €1.2 billion package of measures in February to put money back into people’s pockets, help with their Bills and ensure there is no cliff-edge for the temporary measures already in place. The Government’s decision on 21 February provides that, inter alia, a lump sum payment will be made, as I mentioned. This is an important move and it is important money. I compliment the Minister and the Government for what they are trying to do at a very challenging time for many families. We all know that in all our constituencies, it is a challenging time. Some people on low to medium wages are finding it difficult as well. It is important that measures such as this can be brought forward to help in some way. To date, the Government has put a considerable package in place to help people.

I heard Senator Burke speak about the extension of the school meals scheme. What the Minister is doing there is excellent. I think we all agree in this House that we have to try to extend that further. It is important to keep all those schemes in place. Sometimes, the Government has to look down the road to see whether it can service them into the future. We should be able to do that for the years to come, with the tax take that is coming in now. I also welcome the major Government decision on schoolbooks. That is a huge thing again. It is a big cost on families. That has gone down very well with the public also. I am a little concerned about the lower rate of excise on petrol, diesel and gas oil. I know that was a temporary measure when it was brought in, but obviously it will be tapered out over the coming months and we will see some significant increases there. The only hope we can have is that the prices on the oil markets might come down and, in that way, the blow to the public could be in some way alleviated.

All in all, this is a good evening. It is good move and it is necessary. Let us hope that we can have some other measures like this to help those who are vulnerable at the moment and, as I think we all accept, need our support.