------provided. Anyway, I will go back to what I am supposed to be answering here. To give the Deputy an example, a mother has two children aged 13 and eight and she is a carer for one of them. She currently receives carer's allowance with increases for her children that total €348 per week. That is a real example. Her weekly child support payment has increased by €8 for her older child and €4 for her younger child as a result of the budget. The total benefits to this mother post budget 2025 will be an annual incre…

I thank the Deputy. As he knows, the money collected from that tax is ring-fenced to support people who are less well off. We have the fuel allowance-----

I have announced a fuel allowance lump sum that people will be receiving. There are two energy credits worth a total of €250 that are going to be issued before Christmas. There is a 20% reduction in public transport fares for another 12 months.

In fairness Deputy, there is a very good-----

-----Local Link in County Monaghan and you will have to acknowledge that.

There is a great bus service there now and indeed when I get time I am going to use it one of these days. There is free public transport for children under nine-----

-----and an increase in the rent tax credit of €1,000 per person. Sin é.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Government is looking at that. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, spoke about this but of course we are investing these funds for the future and there are a number of different important infrastructure projects that deserve support. I have no doubt the Mallow relief road will be included in all those considerations. I will raise that with the relevant Minister.

I am sure that is needed as well. The motorway is also an important piece of critical infrastructure.

I thank the Deputy. The Government is keenly aware of issues in relation to child poverty and these issues formed a critical input into the development of the budget, which included the largest social welfare package in the history of the State. It provided €2.6 billion to assist households. The analysis published by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform shows the budget 2025 core package of tax and expenditure measures has a progressive impact and the benefit to the bottom three deciles is …

I thank the Deputy. I will certainly raise that with the relevant Minister. I do not know why; I cannot answer that question. I have been supporting pensioners through the Department of Social Protection. I acknowledge some public sector workers do not get a contributory State pension when they retire, but my focus has been to increase that. The €12 increase this year, along with all the double payments they are receiving, has certainly improved the situation for pensioners across the country.

I thank the Deputy. Yes, I met the Waterford workers along with the Taoiseach. This is a long-running issue and is quite complicated. We accept that. I have not received advice yet. It is a complex matter, but as soon as we do, we will be in touch.

I thank the Deputy. I am not familiar with the specific case but I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to engage with the Deputy directly on this.

I thank the Deputy and he and I have discussed this at length on many occasions. He is right that some of the savings or capital allowances for means tests need to be changed. I agree with him there. My officials are finalising the report and I will give the Deputy a commitment that as soon as I receive it I will share it with him.

I will go back to my officials after these questions are finished and find out where the report is. As soon as I receive it, I will share it with the Deputy because a lot of what he wants to do, I want to do also.

I agree there is more we can do on our connected hubs. We now have a wonderful network. We are one of the first, certainly in Europe if not globally, to have such a network of hubs throughout our country. In fact at an OECD conference Ireland was singled out as being leaders in this field. The Deputy is right that there is more we can do. I asked the Western Development Commission, which manages the connected hubs platform on behalf of the Department, to look at how we can maximise the use of these hubs because the…

I thank the Deputy. I will have to check with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, when the next round of funding is due. I am more familiar with the rural regeneration and development fund, as the Deputy will appreciate. I will ask the Minister to get back to the Deputy on this. The Deputy is right that the funding has made changes. The centres of towns have been transformed by the urban regeneration and development funding. My colleague Minister of State, Deputy Butler, tells me that the North Quays in Waterford are a g…

I thank the Deputy. He makes a valid point. When you are getting your pension and the price of everything is going up but your pension is not, it is not nice. I agree with the Deputy. I will ask the relevant Minister to speak directly to the Deputy on that point. It is a matter for An Post, given the issue concerns its pension scheme. I will raise the issue with the Minister, Deputy Ryan.

I thank the Deputy. The Irish Road Haulage Association is a great organisation with which the Deputy and I are both familiar. Hauliers are hard workers who just want to get on with their jobs, and I acknowledge that. I will bring the Deputy's point to the attention of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan. I will ask him to engage directly with the Deputy.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. My Department of Rural and Community Development is committed to investing in rural Ireland. We are committed to repurposing old buildings and changing them for 21st century use. There has been engagement between my Department and the local authority in Tipperary and we will continue to engage and progress the proposals it brings to us.