Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also compliment Senator Carrigy on the work he has done in trying to get this to become the first autism-friendly Parliament. I too took the course. It is very informative and I encourage everyone to do that.

I also acknowledge Senator Lombard on the blue flag awarded to Garretstown beach. I use the beach regularly over the summer months. It is a wonderful beach. There is a lovely restaurant beside it that overlooks the coast. It is beautiful there.

I ask that we have a debate with the Minister for Finance in regard to flat-rate expenses. I raised this issue almost a year ago. I was happy to see that Charlie Weston had a piece on it in the Irish Independent yesterday. Flat-rate expenses are essentially payments that are given to people in jobs where they incur extra expenditure because of the work they do. There are more than 100 professions, including nurses and teachers, where flat-rate expenses can be claimed. It can be backdated for four years if it has not been claimed already. People can get back a significant amount of money. The reason I ask for a debate on it is that the scheme has not been updated or reviewed in a long time. There are discrepancies in it that need to be changed. To give some examples, teachers can claim flat-rate expenses where they can claim back a couple of hundred euro a year over the previous four years. Special needs assistants cannot do it. Nurses can do it but nurse assistants cannot. Firefighters can do it but gardaí cannot. Childcare workers cannot apply for it at all. Many other professions now exist that were not in place when this scheme was set up. This is the time to review it to see what professions can be included. We need to get word out about it. Most people are not aware of it. I put it up on social media about ten months ago and got an unbelievable response, particularly on TikTok, funnily enough. People were not aware of it and when they applied they could not believe the amount of money they got back on it. I urge that we have a debate and try to update the eligible professions as soon as possible.