As a result of the budget last year, public expenditure will rise by 8.6%. That is not failing anybody. That is a very high increase in investment in public services that all workers benefit from - families and people generally. It is investment in education, health, childcare and right across the board but most critically in housing. Housing remains the number one issue facing our country. We put unprecedented investment into housing so that young working people could benefit from significant supports, from the help to buy scheme, the first home scheme and the rental tax credit. We introduced a significant range of supports to increase housing supply so that young people could be in a position to buy and rent houses they could afford. We will continue to relentlessly pursue the housing question. In the budget we also, critically, put huge investment into infrastructure. We need new roads, a metro and public transport. All of that helps workers. That is the strategic decision we took to make sure there would be unprecedented investment in water, the electricity grid for electricity and energy, and in terms of road infrastructure and public transport. Deputy McDonald ignores all of that because she does not adopt a strategic approach to jobs or to the economy. She should always remember that the most important thing in life is that we have an economy that can provide jobs to people. Last year 57,000 extra jobs were created in the economy, which is for working people. They are jobs that will enable them to navigate life, notwithstanding the pressures. We did not forecast the war in the Middle East. I listened to Deputy McDonald yesterday and today and she ignored the fact there is a war in the Middle East, which is directly impacting fuel prices. That has led to the increase in fuel and has also impacted on other issues. It will filter into other parts of the economy, which is impacting on workers and on families more generally. That is why we announced a €750 million package, which will help workers, farmers and contractors. Food production is very important. The general excise duties will help also. We also increased the State pensions by €10 in the budget. We increased child support payments. Deputy McDonald ignores that. It was the biggest increase ever. The families of children aged 12 plus get €16 extra, bringing it to €78 per week, while there is an extra €8 for the families of children under 12, bringing it to €58 per week. That was to deal with child poverty because we did prioritise child poverty, along with housing and infrastructure. We also prioritised disability. An extra €500 million was allocated to disability services. We increased the domiciliary care allowance by an extra €20. We made choices to support and target our resources at those most in need, and those sectors that needed significant investment. We increased the fuel allowance by €5 per week. We extended it by a month and we brought 50,000 working families into the fuel allowance for the first time ever, which will help them in some shape or form, and alleviate pressure on them. In terms of energy, we also extended the reduction in VAT. We had reduced VAT to 9% on gas and electricity. We have now extended that out to December 2030. We have record funding for home energy upgrades, which benefits many workers. A total of €558 million was allocated in the budget. Deputy McDonald mentioned education, schooling and so on. We now have free GP care for children under the age of eight. Every individual aged 70 and over has automatic eligibility to a GP visit card.
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We have free school books and free hot school meals across every single school in the country-----
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-----which benefits workers, working families and society at large.
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Tá cogadh ar siúl. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta é sin. Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil brú faoi leith ar theaghlaigh ar fud na tíre agus ar mhuintir na tíre de dheasca an chogaidh atá ar siúl agus ardú praghsanna de dheasca an chogaidh sin. The Deputy has ignored and failed to mention the fact that the war in the Middle East has been a significant factor in the increase in fuel prices. Everybody knows that except her. Equally, she attacked measures in the budget that targeted the poorest working families and the poorest in society. She did not believe in targeting. She wants universality across the board.
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She had a similar approach to Liz Truss on the energy question.
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We have-----
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Sorry but I did not interrupt the Deputy. She has always had an inability to allow other people to speak because she does not like the truth.
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All I am saying is that we know people are under pressure.
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That is why we introduced the €750 million package.
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That is why we introduced the €2 billion-----
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-----social protection package to protect pensioners and workers who needed support.
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We will do more, and we will do more in the next budget, just as we did in previous budgets.
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I thank the Deputy for raising what is an extremely important issue. There is a child poverty unit within my Department which actually had a significant impact on the last budget but everybody attacked it because it just targeted those most in need. I hope the Deputy will agree with me that what was done with the child support payment was going in the right direction to deal with poverty among children. It is. Others want universality everywhere but we do need to target and make choices if we do want to reduce consistent poverty among children, and I am determined to do it. With the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, in the last budget, we took significant steps in that direction. On the RTÉ documentary on special care, the care of young children and children coming into care, the experiences described are extremely disturbing. The Government takes that with the utmost seriousness. There has been considerable investment, structural reform and a very determined effort to eliminate inappropriate placements but demand for services is increasing at a very rapid rate. Demand for Tusla services has more than doubled since the agency’s establishment in 2014. In 2025 alone, 106,000 referrals to Tusla were received. That is a 10% increase on previous years. Clearly, there are complex societal pressures, including domestic violence, homelessness and addiction. About 5,900 children are in foster or residential care. Close to 3,000 young people are in aftercare. We will continue to invest, to increase investment and to try to enhance services. Recruitment is not necessarily a funding issue alone; it is also about getting people of the right quality. We have more work to do in this area in terms of full therapeutic supports for children in care. In terms of special education, the bottom line is that we brought forward a portal with an early date for applications for special classes and so forth. This has resulted in a significant increase compared with last year. That dramatic increase has seen us end up with 6,000 pupils. We will be providing for children for next September. We are now looking at over 26,000 special needs assistants. The Deputy said they will not be getting support but they will be. The new inclusive special-class approach will ensure one teacher and two SNAs for every six pupils. That will result in a very significant enhancement over and above what had already been provided for in terms of SNAs. The numbers are growing very significantly, as is the overall budget for special education. The Cabinet has approved €650 million extra in current funding for education, with a significant amount of it directed towards accommodating special education. I can go through all the various classes and special schools that have been established. We will meet what is required.
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I disagree. It was a decision to bring forward the date so parents and schools would have ample time. It has transpired that parents of many children who were in mainstream classes have applied for special classes. The Deputy is now acknowledging that we are spending money but some weeks ago she was saying we were cutting back on SNAs.
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That is what the Deputy said last week, knowing full well-----
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No, sorry. A rule of thumb is that if SNAs are not required in any school in any given year, they should not be there. There should always be regular checking.
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No, it is not. I get that when in opposition, politicians have to do what is required but the bottom line, I take it, is that the Deputy is not opposing the increase in SNAs.
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I thank the Deputy for raising an important issue, particularly for his constituents in County Laois. We have a National Ambulance Service. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate I cannot run the National Ambulance Service from here but I will engage with the issues he raised and I will talk to the Minister for Health about them. The National Ambulance Service will always defend the model it has, and it has consistently defended it over time. Notwithstanding that, we have heard illustrations, observations or commentary from different parts of the House about how that service has not been optimal in terms delays attending particular accidents, events or locations. I heard about one yesterday from Deputy McAuliffe, involving an elderly woman in Dublin waiting four hours. We will engage with the National Ambulance Service but the investment has continued apace. I take the point made by Deputy Bacik earlier that it is not just about investment. I accept that. It is about how the investment is deployed and allocated and what the productivity outcome is from moneys we allocate. Since about 2022, the HSE has invested about an additional €75 million in the National Ambulance Service, with staff numbers increasing by 761 in the same period. Over 85% of National Ambulance Service staff work in direct patient-facing roles. That does help improve ambulance response performance, with additional emergency ambulances, immediate care services and developing alternative care pathways, including community paramedic services. As the Deputy knows, a new helicopter emergency medical service has been established in the west and the north west. That does not affect Laois. There is further investment this year as a result of the budget, with €34 million for renewal and expansion of the fleet. This is €34 million for emergency ambulances and other response vehicles. The investment is continuing. We are looking at about €291 million being spent on the National Ambulance Service in 2026, with about 2,503 employees. That is up again on the same period last year. Further investment is planned this year, with 21 extra crewed ambulances at peak demand, four intermediate care vehicles and the continued development of clinical hubs and alternative care pathways. I will speak to the Minister about the emergency response vehicle for Laois and will ask her to reflect on and engage with the National Ambulance Service in terms of the model it uses.
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Regarding the spring-October statement, the general Government balance is in surplus but all of that money is being used. There is an Exchequer deficit of €1.1 billion. The rest goes into the funds, which we have provided for. Nobody is commenting on that. That €10 million is not hanging around somewhere to be used. The bulk of it has been allocated to the funds and it is being invested in the economy, housing, infrastructure, wind energy and so on. If we look at the ambulance service over a ten, 15 or 20-year period, a revolution in emergency care has happened, for example, the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council and emergency medical technicians. The professionalisation of the entire area has been quite remarkable and has led to very significant outcomes in terms of responses to patients and first responders. It has been dramatic compared to what we had historically but I accept the Deputy's point that there are legitimate issues that need to be examined by the HSE and the National Ambulance and I will ask the Minister to do that.
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Arrears?
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First, let us deal with that issue. The spin all along has been that we have taken in more from the VAT increase than we have given in reductions. That is not true. The bottom line is that because of the measures we took on 13 April, the percentage of the taxation component of the price of a litre of Euro-Super 95 petrol is set to fall to 44% compared with 58% at the end of March. The measures we have brought in have de facto significantly reduced the tax component of the price of fuel. Our overall package was about €750 million. The cost of that package, I acknowledge, is €670 million because we would gain about €82 million in the VAT component of it. That deals with this idea that we are getting more back. On a cap, we do not favour capping the price of diesel or petrol. We think it should be specific fuel support packages for farmers and contractors. The Deputy is automatically assuming that most people will not benefit from the package, and he sort of said that was because of arrears. I was not quite clear what he was saying. I accept that people have to be tax compliant, but I would argue that the vast majority are tax compliant. Indeed, if they work with Revenue, Revenue has already said it is going to be flexible and so on. If people have arrears with others, that does not mean they are not entitled to the package. They will be entitled to the package. It is a substantial package. Particularly in road haulage, the sector was quite satisfied with the nature of the package. The package for contractors and farmers is quite extensive at over €100 million, with a very significant reduction in the costs. People will be able to benefit from it. The Deputy has not set out with precision why he believes the vast majority will not be entitled to it. I would like him to explain why he thinks the vast majority will not be entitled to it.
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It is an important point. We have put forward a very significant package to get down the cost; there is no question about that. The figures are there in terms of how substantial the reduction is compared to what the tax component was. We will work out the package for farmers and contractors, and we will be in a position to outline those shortly. We have also provided a range of other supports to people more generally across other sectors of the economy.
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Have you costed it?
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How much?
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No, that is not the way-----
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This is a falsehood that you are presenting.
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With the greatest of respect, it is an absolute falsehood you are presenting.
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You need-----
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I am speaking through the Chair. He is shouting across.
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But I cannot.
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I am entitled to pose a rhetorical question as a form of debate.
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I would make the point. I know the Deputy was involved in the protests-----
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-----and I know he took a role and so on like that, and he was deciding who was going to get all, and who was going to get-----
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-----which I do not agree with, but-----
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I want to ask you------
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Deputy, what I will say to you-----
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Finally, through the Chair, I have worked with the Deputy before. He is doing a lot of shouting and roaring here today in the Chamber. He has asked me about different things in the past, plenty of times, as a Dáil Deputy, and I have responded to him. I treated him courteously. All I am saying is that I have no difficulty discussing with the Deputy at any time.
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