The Deputy is correct, €3.

It is not a considerable cost there. I do not know how it would work out. I am always looking at things when it comes up to budgets and I will look at that. I can discuss it further with the Deputy. I am certainly happy to consider how we can improve the situation for people who cannot drive.

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to discuss this Bill with Senators today. The purpose of the Bill is to change the means test for social welfare payments so that child maintenance payments will no longer be assessed as means, remove the liable relative provisions from social welfare legislation and change the supports provided to newly arriving beneficiaries of temporary protection who are resident in designated accommodation centres. Two key elements of the Bill, which relate to child maintenance and the…

I will make it as quick as I can.

The current equivalence with Irish citizens in terms of accessing social welfare benefits will be removed for those beneficiaries of temporary protection who are resident in designated accommodation centres, while still meeting the standard set out in the directive. Section 10 amends the International Protection Act 2015 to provide that beneficiaries of temporary protection with a valid permission under the directive to reside in the State will be entitled to the same social welfare benefits as Irish citizens, othe…

I will raise this matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, in my Department when I go back and I will get him to speak to the Deputy directly about the issue.

I thank Senators Burke, Keogan, Ardagh, Wall, Boyhan and Dolan for their contributions. I am very pleased to bring forward this legislation. The Senators have raised a number of issues and I will go straight to dealing with them. I said earlier that a new weekly payment of €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child is being introduced for the beneficiaries of the temporary protection directive. This will be administered by my Department. These changes are designed to ensure the sustainability of our system. They will al…

I was delighted to get approval from Cabinet today to bring forward the announcement we made in budget 2024 to extend the child benefit to those aged 18. That was due to take effect from 1 September. Today, I was able to bring it forward to 1 May. That means the parents of all children in full-time education until they reach the age of 19 will receive the child benefit payment for them. It also includes children with disabilities. Up to the age of 19, they will receive that payment provided they are in full-time ed…

The issue of liable relatives was raised. These changes will simplify the system for the people involved. It does not negate their responsibility as parents to provide for their children, but it means we will not need to have the liable relatives cases where one parent was receiving full State assistance - the one-parent family payment or whatever - and the State felt obliged to try to get that money back from the other parent. Given that we are paying out €614 million in that type of assistance and we are only pul…

I thank Deputy O'Dowd for raising this matter. I was made aware of it late last week and the Irish Deaf Society has been in contact with me. As we speak, my officials are engaging with all the stakeholders, both the Citizens Information Board and the sign language organisation. I will keep the Deputy abreast of how they get on.

I also join my colleagues in paying tribute to our former Taoiseach, John Bruton. I was listening to the radio yesterday morning when we heard the sad news of the death of John, and we were reminded by Tommie Gorman of perhaps one of the lesser-known relationships that John forged during his distinguished political career. John Bruton and Billy Fox were elected to the Dáil on the same day in 1969, and, indeed, they shared an office together here in Leinster House. Sadly, Billy Fox was shot and murdered by the IRA i…

I will speak to Deputy Ó Laoghaire's amendments but first, to clarify for Deputy Murphy, I flagged very clearly on Second Stage that I would be bringing these amendments forward. I outlined it then and so, in fairness, that was explained at that stage. What we are trying to do here is bring us in line with other European countries in order that Ireland is not seen as a more attractive destination than any other European countries. I would also say to the Deputy that we have not been found wanting when it came to su…

We have put a roof over the heads of 75,000 Ukrainians in this country. We have done everything we could do to assist them in the awful plight that they have and had. On Deputy Ó Laoghaire's amendments, I do not propose to accept these amendments. I understand the Deputy's intention here is to link the new payment rate of €38.80 to a person's date of arrival rather to the fact that they are staying in designated accommodation. We discussed this last week, and I know that the Deputy raised a number of issues with re…

The temporary protection directive expires in March 2025. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, was at a Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Brussels at which the issue was discussed. We will move forward on the matter in consultation with our EU partners. On Deputy Murphy's question, I said it could well be the case that, down the road, we may have to make the decision that everybody in State-provided accommodation, regardless of what date they arrived, will receive a payment of €38.80. That is exactly w…

As I said to the Deputy earlier, this is to bring us in line with other European countries. Reducing the payment to €38.80 per week for new Ukrainians coming into this country from now on brings us better in line. We need to be careful here because there is a distinction between the IPAS legislation and what we are talking about today. This is not about international protection; it is specifically about the beneficiaries of the temporary protection directive, who are the Ukrainians. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, w…

I think he will find that they will say they have been. I have been to the centres and I have met people and spoken to them. I can tell the Deputy that they were very glad of the welcome they received here.

I do not know if the Deputy ever leaves Dublin but if he was to go down to any of the communities such as in Clare, for example, he would see the welcome they received there. They received the same in many other counties. I ask the Deputy not to use words like that because it does not reflect what is happening here.

To Deputy Ó Laoghaire's point, there is a dedicated complaints system, if people are not happy. There is an IPAS centre for refugees in my own county of Monaghan. I have visited it on many occasions. The standard of accommodation has improved considerably over the years. It is not, as Deputy Murphy claims, some kind of substandard accommodation that people are living in. There are some really good centres. I visited the one in Monaghan at Christmas a year ago. Many people and families have their own independent acc…

Our public libraries are at the heart of our communities. They are multipurpose social, cultural and educational spaces for the whole community to enjoy. There are 330 public libraries providing an excellent service throughout the country. My Department has provided significant capital funding to support public libraries with funding of €29 million being provided to local authorities under the previous libraries capital programme 2016-2022. One of the key strategic actions of the new public library strategy, The Li…

Like the Deputy, I am a big fan of the libraries. They do absolutely fantastic work. The image some of us used to have of libraries as a stuffy, boring place is well gone. Libraries, as we know, are a hive of activity for all the community. You have young and old people going in who learn computer skills and take language classes. There are book clubs which are a great way to meet people. There is a big focus on hosting heritage events in our libraries now and there is also a big cultural offering. The libraries ar…