Why I prioritised hot school meals over fiver for pensioners in prudent Budget

POLITICS is in essence all about choices. This is particularly the case when resources are limited and you can’t cater for all as you would like to do. As this Government delivers a prudent Budget in the shadow of Brexit, I have chosen to ensure that we get maximum impact for families – particularly vulnerable children and older people.

I have also made sure that we have enough firepower within our department resources for activation – getting long-term unemployed people back to work or helping those who may be affected by Brexit.

Fine Gael in Government is committed to helping to make family life easier and more affordable. At the last Budget, I introduced a pilot scheme for free hot school meals to primary schools, starting off with 37 schools and serving dinner to almost 7,000 kids.

Despite the constraints in this year’s Budget, I believe it’s vital to keep our foot on the pedal with regard to this initiative and, for that reason, I’ve secured funding to ensure a further 35,000 children benefit from free hot dinners from next September. This will be achieved by upgrading the current cold lunch schemes, primarily in DEIS or socially disadvantaged schools.

Improving access to hot school meals is an idea that’s not going away. As the minister with responsibility for supporting those children most at risk of poverty, I see hot meals as one of the most effective and dynamic ways of really making a difference to their welfare. By increasing the number of schools who can avail of these meals, I am seeking to maintain momentum and to signal that we will work to incrementally introduce it further until every child that needs one can benefit from a free hot meal at school.

Given the limited scope within this year’s Budget, I have sought to ensure that funding is prioritised to those at the margins. Last year, I introduced significant increases for the children of those dependent on benefits and this year I’ve provided for a further increase. Combined with increases in the working family payment threshold and the income disregard for single parents, this Budget’s measures have built on the work of that last few years to protect and support families and children at risk of poverty.

While we were not in a position to provide pension increases for all, we have provided an increase in the Living Alone Allowance – benefiting over 200,000 pensioners and those with a disability.

The weekly fuel allowance is also being increased and eligibility for Households Benefits Package – which helps to pay for utility costs – is being extended for pensioners under 70 to allow for another adult to reside in the home.

I have a particular admiration for the role of carers. It has been a long-standing call from carers groups that the limitation we place on the number of hours that carers can work or undertake education or training in a week is too restrictive. In this Budget, I have increased the number of hours a carer can work or study from 15 hours per week to 18 and a half hours.

Our activation programmes have been successful in increasing employment levels for groups that find it difficult

I plan to develop ‘Returnships’ to help women return to work

to find sustainable jobs. However, there are still a number of groups that experience difficulties entering and sustaining employment. That is why I am providing additional funding to develop and implement specific activation initiatives for those most distant from the labour market.

In particular, I plan to develop ‘Returnships’ for women who have been out of the workplace for a prolonged period – usually to raise a family or care for a relative – and help them to participate once more in the workforce.

As I said, Budgets are about choices. This year I have chosen to design a social-welfare package that provides for a better deal for families and targets resources to the other most vulnerable groups in society. Our choices and priorities define us and I believe this Budget demonstrates that, despite the very serious economic threat posed by Brexit, this Government will always put families, children and the vulnerable first.