Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the €100 increase in child benefit.

I see people struggling on the ground on a daily basis. They are leaving food behind in shopping centres. We see it all the time. The Government says it is the increase in the cost of living and how it impacts on people, but I see a lot of greed in the shops. In local communities as well, I could go to one shop in a certain area where a bottle of Lucozade is a €1 and right across the road, the bottle of Lucozade is €2. We have to look at that. We also have to look at the greed that is around us.

While I welcome what the Minister said about this being a short Bill, and any family welcomes that €100 increase for every child, we have to look beyond as well if someone has a child with a disability. We speak at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters about the cost of a child having a disability. How do we support parents with one child or two children, or even three children, who have a disability?

It would be wrong for me not to mention people living in direct provision. We should not have direct provision. Of course, I acknowledge and understand what is going on in Europe. We have seen people fleeing, as we have not seen since the Second World War. However, there are parents in direct provision not having a way of feeding their children. Of course, the cost of living has gone up for us all but it has had a greater impact on people who are seeking international protection, people living in direct provision and, of course, very poor communities.

I welcome the Bill. It is something positive that all parents would welcome.