I assure the Deputy that we want to make sure children get quality food but we have to wait until the outcome of the review. The Deputy was a teacher and, therefore, he knows first-hand the benefit of feeding children when they are at school. It helps their educational attainment. For those parents who are trying to come up with lunches children might eat, it makes it an awful lot easier if they get their lunch at school, particularly a hot one. I visited a school not that long ago in which there were different men…

I thank the Deputy. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, my Department may make an additional needs payment to help meet expenses that a person cannot pay from his or her weekly income. Payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme. These can and do include support to assist people with clothing costs outside of emergency situations where they are unable to meet this need from their own resources. This approach provides targeted support rather than a general clothing allo…

I asked about this and was told that clothes are included in the one we have. I take the Deputy's point, however.

I take the Deputy's point; she read it out to me. What I have written here is, "food, clothing or shelter in the aftermath of a fire or flood or other emergency event." I take her point and I will raise it with the officials. The CWOs have discretion. If the Deputy wants to give me the specific details of the case of that lady who did not get that payment, I am happy to take them. I will raise the issue myself because I do not know the circumstances or particular details of that case. The Deputy can give the detail…

I thank Deputies Tóibín, Canney and Grealish for bringing forward this Private Member's Bill. I am pleased to inform the House that the Government is not opposing the Bill. I have two dogs myself, a miniature Yorkshire terrier called Rusty and a King Charles spaniel called Lady. Like everybody else, they are part of the family and we would be heartbroken if anything happened to them. I think that is the case for many people. Whether it is an elderly person living alone or a young family, often the entire household …

I welcome the debate. I thank the Deputies for bringing forward the Bill and for all their contributions. As I said earlier, the proposals in this Private Members' Bill are consistent with my Department's overall objective to promote responsible dog breeding in Ireland. Deputy Donnelly mentioned crossbreeding, which is just awful. Mixing a small dog like a Pomeranian with a big dog really is just terrible. I welcome the broad thrust of the proposals, particularly around enhanced enforcement by local authorities and…

It was a better answer.

I thank Deputy Naughten for giving me some of his time. I also thank Deputies for their contributions. There has been good engagement. There were always going to be some areas where there were differences, but there has been a broad welcome for the measures in the Bill from all sides of the House. We can never do everything we want in a single budget. There will always be more requests and things that we would like to do. We have struck a fair balance. All analyses shows that the budget is positive, particularly fo…

If I made a mistake with the IT system, I would be in bigger trouble today. Please God, that will not happen. We were lucky we did not have any issues.

Yes. I thank the Ceann Comhairle.

He was better informed than me too.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second time." As Deputies will be aware, the purpose of the Social Welfare Bill is to give legislative effect to the changes announced on budget day. Budget 2023 was framed in uncertain times. As the world emerged from the public health crisis caused by Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the ensuing geopolitical instability has meant that inflation in this country is at its highest rate in a generation. The cost of living is rising and it is more expensive to do the weekly shop, f…

They do get it.

Photograph, photograph.

Our Rural Future is the most ambitious and transformational policy for rural development in Ireland for decades. The policy commits to developing an effective rural-proofing model within the lifetime of the policy. This will aim to ensure Departments fully consider the effects of new proposals on rural communities and the need to better target the particular challenges and opportunities facing rural areas. Building on a rural-proofing report my Department commissioned, I also recently hosted the 13th OECD internati…

As I said, the development of a rural-proofing model is a key commitment in Our Rural Future, and work is progressing well on it in conjunction with other Departments. I do not want it to be a box-ticking exercise. We want other Departments to engage meaningfully, so it is important we get it right. We do hold other Departments to account through Our Rural Future. We have a work programme and actions for every year. I meet with the relevant Ministers in those Departments to make sure I hold them to account on their…

Obviously, like the Deputy, I am aware of the change in the status of the Border and western region, but from my Department’s point of view, there has been unprecedented investment in that area. I am aware of the challenges faced by inland counties, such as my own county of Monaghan, the Deputy’s county of Roscommon, Leitrim, and Longford - although not in that region - and I have been focusing additional investment in those areas. We are looking at developing a pilot scheme based on the report on rural proofing. I…

The local improvement scheme, LIS, supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. Rural connectivity is an important element in Our Rural Future. Such roads represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents, providing access to people’s homes and farms as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers or beaches. LIS was reintroduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding in place. The scheme is administered locally by …

Roads were always funded by the Department of Transport. In fairness to Deputy Michael Ring, when he became Minister in the Department, he started to fund them. No more than Deputy Kerrane, we are rural Deputies and know the benefits. He created a fund within the Department of Rural and Community Development. The Department of Transport has a very large capital budget, far in excess of what my Department has. I am putting 10% of my budget into LIS schemes via the capital budget. I have raised the matter with the Mi…

I appreciate the help of the Deputy in convincing people of the benefits of the scheme. I know all rural Deputies feel the same. The issue was raised in the House recently. Perhaps we can convince the Department of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to help us deal with the backlog and get rid of it. As I said, some counties are doing quite well and have nearly cleared their backlog. Others have more lanes than others. In my county of Monaghan, there are a serious number of lanes. Everybody seems to live in a lane when it …