Ní aontaím in aon chor leis an méid atá ráite ag an Teachta. De réir na moltaí a bhí aici féin agus na polasaithe ag Sinn Féin maidir leis an gcáinaisnéis seo, bheadh costais maireachtála ag dul in airde dá mba rud é go gcuireadh i bhfeidhm iad.

If you look at Sinn Féin's alternative budget the bottom line is this, and this is not my calculation but the Central Bank's formula. It is spending €13.4 billion - more, in fact, if you add in its once-off measures - in its alternative budget. That budget would add 2.5% to the cost of living and to inflation.

It is absolutely true, and they have been going on for the past month about the cost of living.

Its budget, if you look at the Central Bank's formula for determining this, would have put up inflation and the cost of living by 2.5%.

What I would say is that workers in this country want better water services, more houses, better public transport-----

-----more roads and better road connectivity. They want better education services, better health services-----

-----and Sinn Féin has gone full circle. I never thought I would hear the day when a Sinn Féin leader would be quoting the Fine Gael mantra about how "It is for those who get up early in the morning". That was at one time a slogan the Deputy would have decried and condemned in her day.

The point is that we decided we would invest in the future of working people in this country-----

-----that we would protect the jobs we have and then invest to make sure we have the jobs of tomorrow, through investment in research and development, through investment in energy, water, public transport, roads and so forth. We are doing that. That is what will underpin workers in their jobs. This is the first of five budgets, and we will be working on our taxation commitments in future budgets in respect-----

-----of those who are working, as we did in previous budgets. However, we also said-----

-----we would prioritise child poverty, and this is a very progressive budget. If you look at the ESRI's SWITCH model, it is saying the two lowest income deciles get the most from this budget and a significant amount-----

-----relative to others. That is what this budget is doing. I was determined to do it and I said in the House we would do it. It is the beginning of a process to get consistent poverty down-----

-----particularly among children. Look also at the child support payment. It is very significant. The over-12s has gone up by €16 and the under-12s by €8. That will benefit approximately 330,000 children in this country. It is moving in the direction of a second tier in supporting those most in need. For children, the €16 is now approximately €4,000 per annum. That is the amount for a child and family in the support payment now. That is significant. It is €3,000 for those under 12. For carers, there is a record 60%…

That means, therefore, that a person caring in a household where their partner earns up to €108,000 will receive a full carer's payment. These are the largest ever increases in the carer's income disregard.

On disability, there is substantial funding gone into the disability budget plus the domiciliary care allowance is up significantly.

I did say in the election that the enterprise economy-----

-----infrastructure, child poverty and disability were my targets.

There are tens of thousands of people in this country working in cafes and restaurants throughout the length and breadth of the country. They are workers. It is an industry under pressure.

Studies show-----

Studies show that increased labour costs did impact on those businesses.