Tá an Rialtas ag magadh faoi seo ach tá sé tromchúiseach gur tharla díospóireacht i bparlaimint eile le heolas ón Rialtas nuair nach bhfuil díospóireacht nó eolas anseo. Sin iontach tromchúiseach — ich spreche kein Deutsch mein Herr, aber haben——

Could the Deputy translate that for us please? I do not have German.

I would say that would be easy enough.

——dem Bundestag. Chuir mé ceist an bhfuil aon scéal aige ón Bundestag because that is where the decisions are being taken.

I want to deal with another issue. The issue of VAT is one which will destroy small and medium businesses but the big issue that has emerged in recent days is to do with the Government's commitment to maintain social welfare rates. Labour was crystal clear about that, particularly on the issue of child benefit. The Tánaiste said the issue of child benefit was a red line issue for the Labour Party. Will that be reflected in the budget? Will the Taoiseach make it clear that there will be no cuts to child benefit on 6 December? In case the Taoiseach says he has not made decisions on that, he is able to make it clear on other matters, for example, that there will be no increase in direct taxes. There are also suggestions that lone parents allowance will be stopped when a child reaches the age of seven? Why seven? Does a child not need to be fed, clothed or looked after in terms of going to school after the age of seven? In our view child benefit should be a universal payment and the simplest way to do that is to give every child the same payment and introduce a third rate of income tax for those earning over €100,000 a year. The Taoiseach said in his remarks earlier that these are deliberate choices. About that I agree with him. These are deliberate choices. Will he choose, make it clear here and give a clear commitment that there will be no cuts to child benefit in this budget?

Tá a fhios agam nach bhfuil sé ar chumas an Teachta bheith páirteach sna díospóireachtaí a bhíonn ann idir Baill Rialtais ach tá an Teachta ag labhairt faoi ráflaí ag dul timpeall agus faoi dhíospóireachtaí nach bhfuil cinneadh ar bith déanta fúthu. Níl cinneadh ar bith ag an Rialtas i leith na mionrudaí a bhfuil an Teachta ag caint fúthu. Tá siad fíor-thábhachtach agus cuirfidh siad isteach ar dhaoine agus ar chlanna ar fud na tíre. Ní bheidh córas leasa shóisialaigh againn, ní bheidh córas eacnamaíochta an Rialtais againn, áfach, mura bhfuil gearradh siar sna struchtúir atá ann. Tá an Teachta ag caint fúthu le fada an lá. Ní dhearna na Rialtais na cinntí mar ba chóir go mbeadh an struchtúr sin i gceart. Caithfimid díriú isteach orthu siúd agus cinntí a dhéanamh. Séard atá an Teachta ag rá faoin gearradh siar agus na laghduithe rátaí agus mar sin, déarfaidh mé an fhírinne leis — is fíor-annamh go bhfuil díospóireacht ann ar fud na tíre fúthu ach níl cinneadh déanta ag an Rialtas maidir le ceann ar bith acu go fóill ach beidh laistigh de sheachtain. Táimid ag éisteacht leis na díospóireachtaí atá ar siúl ach tá dualgas ar an Rialtas cinneadh dearfa a dhéanamh faoi seo agus sin an rud a bheimid ag déanamh as seo amach.

Rogha atá ann, aontaím leis an Taoiseach faoi sin. Tá mé ag lorg freagra simplí don cheist agus go mbeidh an Taoiseach soiléir nach mbeidh aon ghearradh siar ann do pháistí. Ní ceart don Taoiseach a rá nach bhfuil an díospóireacht fós críochnaithe. I ask the Taoiseach to take the opportunity to be as clear on this issue as he has been on others which benefit the elites. He states money cannot be taken from pensions, that bonuses cannot be taken from the big bankers and that the sum of €700 million must be given to the bondholders. He is very clear about this.

What about closing down Dunmurry High School?

All I am asking is that he be equally clear in stating the red-line promises made at the time of the election will be maintained in the budget and making it clear it will not provide for cuts in child benefit.

The programme for Government.

Bhí mé thuas i mBéal Feirste cúpla oíche ó shin and one of the things I was told was that Sinn Féin had refused school transport for children who wished to attend an all-Irish school. So much for the cúram faoi chúrsaí teanga. I will be very clear with Deputy Adams. It is the responsibility of the Government to make decisions about the budget. The Government has set its task in fulfilling the mandate given to us by the people to sort out the public finances, reduce the deficit to a figure of 8.6% and remove €3.8 billion from the economy next year. This is not easy and every Department is being examined. The Government will make definitive decisions on all these issues in the coming days. I will not answer for the Cabinet now on the final decisions it will make, nor should I. I am aware of the difficulties for all Ministers in cutting back; these things are never easy.

What about the children? Forget about the Ministers.

As I stated, it would be lovely to be able to stand up and state it has all been sorted and everybody will be better off. If we are to have our country and economic sovereignty back, we cannot go on in the way we did and we will not do so. Therefore, we must make decisions which, on the one hand, will meet that target and, on the other, do everything possible to return people to work and take them off the live register, while protecting the most vulnerable in society. That is what the Government will do.

Tá na ráflaí go léir ag teacht ón Rialtas.

I wish to follow up on the issue of child benefit and its importance to children and families. There has been much misinformed debate in the past 48 hours. Does the Taoiseach accept the principle that child benefit helps to reduce the level of poverty for disadvantaged families and that a cut to this payment would be a nightmare for them? Does he accept that child benefit is not a slush fund for the rich but is a huge help to families, particularly those women and children at risk in dysfunctional families where the partner or husband controls the purse strings? All Deputies are aware of this in their clinics. Does the Taoiseach agree that it is all very well for the likes of Michael O'Leary and other rich people to dismiss it out of hand, but for many families, child benefit can be a matter of life and death? Does he also accept that if he was to dig deeper into child poverty problems, he would see one of the ways out of child poverty is through child benefit? Does he accept that these are the facts for many poor families? I, therefore, ask him not to cut child benefit.

The Deputy's question is the same as that put by Deputies Martin and Adams.

No, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, confirmed the VAT increase.

All of these matters must be considered and decided on by the Government. In the past ten days there has been public comment on sickness benefit, child benefit, VAT rates——

From Ministers.

——and indirect taxation measures.

From where did the rumours come?

The Taoiseach should get off the stage.

This is perfectly normal in the run-in to any budget.

It is normal now.

Last year we had the same thing; every year I have been in the House there has been the same speculation during the preparation of a budget. It is part of the normal discourse that takes place. It is the responsibility of the Government to see to it that those who are most vulnerable in society are protected. It is clear that child benefit is of importance to this category. In recent days I have heard people state child benefit is of no particular interest to them. Deputy McGrath mentioned one individual who, at least, makes a very substantial contribution through his taxes to the country, for which I respect him and also for what he does.

He delivered for County Mayo yesterday.

The Government is cognisant of the difficulty, on the one hand, in meeting the conditions of the IMF, the ECB and the European Union and, on the other, providing for the protection of the most vulnerable and the provision of front-line services, while offering whatever incentives we can for people to avail of the opportunity to seek gainful employment. Deputy McGrath is no different from anybody else. We have a duty and a responsibility in these straitened circumstances to ensure the decisions made by the Government are as fair as is possible, particularly as they affect those who are most vulnerable.

What I stated was very different from what many commentators had stated in the past 48 hours. I targeted the money provided for the most disadvantaged families, a key aspect of which is child benefit. I ask the Taoiseach not to play games with this issue because it is a very important one. Will he ensure child benefit is not cut because of its importance in assisting families to meet their child care costs and creating many jobs in child care services? He mentioned job creation. If child benefit is removed, this will damage jobs in child care services. From an economic point of view, child benefit generates employment and a €10 cut would pose a threat to jobs. On the broader issue involved, does the Taoiseach accept that if a sum of €150 million is removed from child benefit payments, it will destroy child care services and many jobs in the sector? The Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is sitting beside the Taoiseach.

We all knew about the state of the public finances prior to the general election. I, therefore, accept the point made by the Taoiseach in that regard. However, does he agree that it was pathetic for Labour Party leaders to promise they would not agree to a cut in child benefit? They did so prior to the election knowing the figures. They made these false promises and are now turning their backs on women and children. It is a bit rich and hypocritical to speak about having a referendum on children's rights when the Government is planning to take €10 from poor families.

Give back the leader's allowance.

Deputy McGrath saved his best rant until last. The Labour Party has never turned its back on the people and will not do so now. The Deputy continuously refers back to the decision made by the people. The people made their decision in the general election, prior to which the Deputy had his own programme, like every other party, including the Labour Party and Fine Gael.

I did not make false promises.

The Deputy never stopped making promises.

What we are working on is the programme for Government. The mandate given to the Government was to sort out the public finances——

What the Taoiseach told the people was completely irrelevant.

——and to provide a social welfare system that encouraged and incentivised work. If something is not done about these issues, we will continue in the way we did, which is not the way for the future.

Does starving children help to incentivise work?

I understand what the Deputy is saying but let me remind him that when one brands party X or party Y, we are now operating off a programme for Government. That programme is the mandate given to us by the people.

They did not know about that beforehand. They voted for something different.

Part of that mandate is to have a social welfare system that incentivises and encourages people to get off the live register, away from social protection and back into the world of work. I am sure the Deputy supports that. If I read his programme prior to the election properly, it contained references to that in his own McGrath way, which is a very special way of saying things.