I ask the Minister to review the contributory pension entitlement for someone with fewer than 520 contributions and look to give them a pro rata pension. This policy imposes a cliff-edge cut-off. It is very unfair. Someone with 519 contributions gets nothing but 520 would entitle them to get between €99 and €120 per week, and sometimes much more.

I also want to address the fact that the home caring scheme does not allow for any additional credits. This is unfair as a mother often gives up work in order to care for her children and is given no increased credits for this time. Can this be revisited as it penalises a parent who makes the decision to give up work, a decision which actually saves the State money?

I want to address the homemaker's scheme, which is often confused with the home carer's scheme. This only applies from 6 April 1994. Again, this date is an arbitrary cliff edge. It discriminates against people who cared for children who were 12 years of age before that date. It is completely unfair and illogical. It should apply to all caring for children and not only those cared for after 6 April 1994. Similarly, the home caring periods are only applicable from 6 April 1994. Will the Minister look at including all…

Many of these people will have passed away by 2050.

I have met people working for State bodies involved in asset procurement for long-term infrastructure projects. One of the points they constantly raise is the lack of long-term financial planning and commitments on projects that take a long time to deliver, for example, ten years. They say that more certainty is needed and this would help improve the efficiency of delivering the projects and gain the commitment of suppliers to the projects. Can we move away from the short-term approach and put more emphasis on long…

I want to emphasise how spending on infrastructure is an investment, in that it gives a return. For example, I recently attended the opening of the new wastewater treatment plant in Arklow, County Wicklow, which cost €140 million and came in on budget. Much of that €140 million comes back to the State immediately through taxes. This plant has a capacity of 24,000 population equivalent with an expansion possibility to 36,000. This can cater for over 10,000 new houses. When these houses are built, the State will reco…

Regarding delivery, a new infrastructure division group has recently been established. For the current national development plan, a delivery board was set up in 2018. The national development plan envisages five or four - it is not clear - additional outside experts being added. It only meets every two to three months, which seems way too seldom. I wonder how successful it has been. Another body was set up in 2012, the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service, IGEES, which has taken on 150 analysts. By the way,…

A little over a year ago, as the Minister knows, the Government started to roll out a scheme of supplying free solar panels to schools. This is a very worthwhile initiative. However, there is a problem. Many schools do not have smart meters, which means they cannot sell excess electricity back to the grid. This installation is taking way too long. I know of a school that will not get a smart meter until 2028. Many schools are now only getting 25% of the electricity generated as a credit, whereas they should be earn…

I thank the Minister. The schools are currently given a 25% credit at, say, 18 cent per kilowatt hour. The schools are closed most of the year. Their generation during this time is huge, and more so since they are closed during much of the peak solar times in the summer. The other issue is that the 10 kW roll out is too small for many schools. They require a much greater coverage of solar panels. I am not saying that larger systems should be fully funded, but they should be supported to some degree, for example, to…

On a related matter, this programme can help with the running costs of primary schools. Schools have severe financial difficulties. Many schools are in deficit. I have seen how the ancillary grant, for example, does not cover the cost of caretaking. Could this be increased to match the cost? Additionally, I believe we need to look at increasing the capitation grant further from the new rate of €224 per child. The Parliamentary Budget Office has said it would cost approximately €40 million per annum to increase the …

We have a great secondary education system. It is one of the cornerstones of our success as a nation. However, given it is largely academically based, we need to look at ways of bringing life skills to our children that will better prepare them for the real world. In particular, I refer to the transition year programme. This is a great programme which offers students an opportunity to learn new skills. Can it be extended to cover more aspects of daily life that will benefit our children as they enter adult life?

I will mention in particular some items that should be included, for example, knowledge of finance and how to manage finance. This is important as it affects everyone. It should cover understanding of income tax and all other taxes. It should also educate about loans and mortgages and explain the difference between different types of loans. Second, it should include legal education and understanding of one's legal rights. It should also include how the political system works, how democracy and elections are conduct…

I will list some other items but the list is not exhaustive. Many schools run the mini-company programme in conjunction with the student enterprise programme supported by the local enterprise offices but this programme is only offered to a limited number of students in schools. Could we offer a programme to all students on the following: the skills and steps required in setting up a business; the driver theory test; online safety and the risks and benefits of the online world; and communication, including both verb…

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to raise the importance of the Irish Stock Exchange to the economy and to the growth of our indigenous Irish companies. I welcome the commitments in the programme for Government to support the Irish Stock Exchange. However, I would like to see this commitment followed up with concrete action to ensure its growth and success. I am glad to see the Tánaiste met the Stock Exchange team on Tuesday and I hope he will take away some of their requests. I know a request is with the M…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The threat of US tariffs has made it even more urgent for us to support Irish indigenous companies, and the Stock Exchange is crucial to this goal. While foreign multinational companies have created great prosperity in this State, geopolitical difficulties have underscored the need to ensure a positive regulatory landscape for Irish companies to grow and succeed in. Ireland will assume the Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2026. I hope that the imple…

The birth rate in Ireland fell from 75,000 in 2010 to 55,000 in 2023. We now have the lowest birth rate ever. This low birth rate has clear negative impacts on sustaining our economy and public services. It will lead to a lower tax intake and inevitable cuts to our welfare state. Will the Government look at strategies to help increase the birth rate? This could be done by financially supporting people who want to have children. Additionally, we need to look at more imaginative strategies and not just financial ones…

I welcome some aspects of the revised calculation of property tax and the calculation of the amount retained by counties. I recognise that the expected average increase of 5% is way below the inflation rate of 16.7% over the past four years. However, more needs to be done to make it a more equitable tax. In particular, some counties do not retain all of the tax collected in their county.

I thank the Minister. In my county, Wicklow, €3 million of the €23 million tax raised will not be kept locally next year. This is an improvement on the €5 million in 2025 but it needs to be eliminated. I do not suggest it be taken from the other counties which receive more than what is collected but that it ultimately comes from Exchequer funding. Two aspects of the system need to be changed. The first is the baseline figure, which is used to deprive local authorities of the tax raised in their counties. This is ba…

The legislation states the property tax must be reset to the base rate every year. This means if a council has a rate above the base rate, for example, 6%, as it is in Wicklow, it has to restate every year the rate is increasing whereas in actual fact the rate is not increasing. Could the legislation be changed to eliminate the requirement to return to the base rate each year and have the actual tax as the starting point? A positive development is the use of the discretionary fund to the municipal district. This al…

Many people in Ireland commute to work and spend a long time in traffic. Many of these people's jobs are not conducive to working from home. This is a cost in terms of finance, time and family life. Rural employment must be supported. I welcome the successful roll-out of the national broadband plan, which is ahead of schedule and under budget. What strategies do the Minister and his Department have to deliver long-term employment in rural Ireland?