Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2021-04-29
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Leo Varadkar (FG), Dublin West

I will, with the help of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, look into the issue the Deputy raised of people who are on the pandemic unemployment payment moving to a lower payment, maternity benefit, and we will see whether we can do anything on it.
I had the privilege to be Taoiseach for three years and Minister for Social Protection for one year, and this is exactly the space I moved us into. I restored treatment benefit, dental and optical, for people who have paid PRSI, extended social insurance benefits, such as treatment benefit, to the self-employed and farmers. I brought in paternity benefit, extended jobseeker's benefit and invalidity pension for the first time to the self-employed and increased the minimum wage by 25%. I think I have a good record, in the brief time I had to do those things, and hope to do more in this role and any future role I may hold in government. These things need to be worked out and legislated for, and also to be funded.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-04-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:13+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-04-29