Micheál Martin

-----particularly among children. Look also at the child support payment. It is very significant. The over-12s has gone up by €16 and the under-12s by €8. That will benefit approximately 330,000 children in this country. It is moving in the direction of a second tier in supporting those most in need. For children, the €16 is now approximately €4,000 per annum. That is the amount for a child and fa…

That means, therefore, that a person caring in a household where their partner earns up to €108,000 will receive a full carer's payment. These are the largest ever increases in the carer's income disregard.

On disability, there is substantial funding gone into the disability budget plus the domiciliary care allowance is up significantly.

I did say in the election that the enterprise economy-----

-----infrastructure, child poverty and disability were my targets.

There are tens of thousands of people in this country working in cafes and restaurants throughout the length and breadth of the country. They are workers. It is an industry under pressure.

Studies show-----

Studies show that increased labour costs did impact on those businesses.

Deputies should not be so dismissive of the hospitality sector, as they are in their commentary, and likewise in terms of housing.

We do need to narrow the viability gap. The Deputy is all bluff and bluster about housing-----

-----but any time there is a solution that can contribute to housing-----

-----Sinn Féin just knocks it and condemns it and sloganises it by saying it is a tax break for developers.

It is not.

What it is about-----

I did not interrupt you, Deputy.

I did not interrupt the leader of Deputy Doherty's party-----

-----and he should stop heckling and shouting and being Mr. Angry all the time.

The bottom line is this-----

Well, maybe Sinn Féin's decision to sit it out and not have a candidate might have been a wise one after all, but anyway-----

I will just say-----

Sinn Féin does not-----

A Cheann Comhairle, that is not good enough. We will either have-----

I think we need fairness. I am not being allowed to answer.

I have to disagree because in terms of the commitments we made in the election, we are following through on them very clearly in this budget.

Deputy Bacik avoided the whole area of child poverty.