I am very concerned about Senator Terry Leyden.

The Senator should not be.

He seems to have had a serious change of heart overnight. I sat with him yesterday in the Chamber listening to the Budget Statement and he seemed very impressed. I just do not know what happened to him overnight. In any case, he seems to have been got at.

I assessed it in depth.

I would like to have a debate in the next week or ten days with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, on the job creation measures included in the budget. All fair-minded people would accept that the budget very much targets job creation and work and attempts to make work pay. It is very much welcome that the universal social charge has been reduced from 7% to 5.5% on earnings between €18,000 and €70,000. This will make a very significant difference to people at work who have borne the brunt of the cuts and hardship in recent years.

Yesterday, after the Budget Statement, we noted for the first time in five years a real sense of hope and real concentration on driving the economy forward now that we have exited the bailout and are in a position to start repaying our debts. It is very much welcome that the self-employed are at last being respected and treated fairly in the budget. The introduction of the tax credit of €550 for self-employed workers and farmers is very much to be welcomed. It is a start. I hope we will see the self-employed gaining equality in forthcoming budgets.

The transportation sector which creates very significant employment was given significant relief in the budget, with the capping of the tax on transport vehicles at €900 per annum, bringing the rate into line with that in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. I hope we will now see many of the companies that have registered in Northern Ireland registering in the Republic and bringing in much-needed revenue.

That is not correct. The Senator has got it wrong.

I very much welcome the 7% increase in overseas development aid. Now that the economy is improving, we are ensuring an increase in support for the most deprived people in the world. The increase is a start and I hope that in the coming years we will reach the target of 0.7% of GDP.

Like others, I would like to be associated with the words of sympathy on the very tragic death of Garda Golden. By all accounts, he was a man with a big heart. He responded as a garda as he was expected to do but sadly lost his life. I extend my sympathy to his family on their great loss. I commend the late Garda Golden for his service to the nation. I also extend my sympathy to the families bereaved by the tragic deaths in Carrickmines.

Yesterday when I commented on the budget, I said there appeared to be a little something for everyone except third level students and their families. I have thought about this since and must reiterate that I am really disappointed there was no move on the student contribution charge of €3,000. Within a few years, all of the youths in the Visitors Gallery will be going to college. Every year during the recession the charge increased by €250. It would have been nice to see a small dent in that figure. I am saying this because the families and students affected are the very ones who were hit by an out-of-control rental sector. There is no rental certainty for students, including in Galway from where every day I receive a call from a family in trouble. Individuals tell me they are due to leave their house in January but have five young children, including a baby who is sick. They ask what they should do and I actually say I do not know. The council has no houses to give them. I knocked on a man's door the other day and asked him how things were and whether there was anything he would like to say. He said he was fine because he had been given a house and was finally a homeowner. He said he was saying this because all his friends were in the rental sector.

In Galway we have the largest percentage of people relying on the rental sector. Some 40% of homes are in the rental sector. Think about how fragile that base is. We have had 10,000 people on the housing list for years in Galway. As such, I support Senator Aideen Hayden and others who have been flying this flag for the longest time. Let us start a campaign in the Seanad to secure rental certainty for our families and students. Let us do this before this Seanad term expires. I ask the Leader to secure the attendance of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, or whatever Minister is in charge, be it the Minister for Finance or the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. They need to work together on this issue because we are talking about expenditure, but we are also talking about imagination. A Bill is ready to be brought to the floor of the House to deal with the rental sector and rent certainty. Let us do it.

I need to reply to Senator David Cullinane on the budget.

The Senator will be replying to the House.

Incorrect information is being furnished and it is part of the debate we are having. A married couple with two children on one income of €25,000 will be €1,000 better off as a result of the budget, or over €21 per week. A married couple with two children earning €55,000 will be €30 per week better off, or €1,500 per annum. That is the reality of the budget. It is about looking after people with young families. That is what was done in the budget.

I am a little concerned about Senator Terry Leyden's contribution. While I agree with him that we need to negotiate with GPs, we did not promise to give medical cards to children aged between six and 12 years. We promised to give GP cards. I will discuss the matter with the Senator after the Order of Business to explain what the difference is.

I know well what the difference is.

The Senator said we were giving medical cards.

I was in the Department of Health for a longer period than the Senator.

Senator Colm Burke to continue, without interruption.

I want to correct what was said. I know exactly what GP cards and medical cards are.

It is GP cards we are talking about.

With a GP card one cannot get free prescriptions.

Please allow Senator Colm Burke to speak without interruption, please.

What I am saying to the Senator is that it is an important step in providing health care for young people and it is all part of our programme to move eventually towards GP cards for those up to 18 years of age.

It is important to note that the budget is a balanced one. I was talking to one person yesterday who was in receipt of the old-age pension, as was his wife. He is caring for her because she requires full-time care. He had worked out that he would be €1,000 better off because of the increase in the respite care grant, the increase in pension and the increase in fuel allowance. As a result, he believes that is important for him. It is the first step in trying to restore what we need to provide in providing assistance for those who are retired and those who need our support otherwise. This is the first step on that road and it is a very important one. If Senator Terry Leyden thinks we can achieve it all in one year, I note that we cannot. This is the first step on the road and there are many more that must be taken to redress what had to be done to deal with the huge growth in expenditure over a short period. We had to pay the price from 2009 on.

I welcome the measures included in the budget. From the point of view of job creation and small businesses, it was a great budget. Every sector of society was positively helped, particularly in health. As Senator Colm Burke mentioned, providing GP care for the under 12s is a great move. I welcome the extra nurses and extra investment generally through the respite care grant and so on.

There are two areas I wish to highlight that should be emphasised in future budgets, or sooner, if funding becomes available in the short to medium term. Recently, Roy Keane made amusing comments about breastfeeding. It was all very funny and I issued a press release in which I referred to "Keane on breastfeeding" because we perform very badly in this area. An AIMS Ireland survey found that only 56% of new Irish mothers breastfed, compared to 80% in the United Kingdom and 90% in Scandinavia. Most women cited a lack of support as the reason a lot of them chose to give up trying. I carried out some research and it seems that we need to place a great deal more emphasis on the supports required by new mothers. For instance, we need lactation consultants in hospitals. It is an area which could do with funding in the medium term.

The other service that needs funding is IVF. Many couples suffer infertility which is recognised as a disease by the World Health Organization. Even plastic surgery is supported in the public health system in a lot of cases. The €4,000 to €5,000 minimum cost per cycle of IVF is very high for couples who are trying to have a baby. In Belgium it has been funded since the 1990s, while in the United Kingdom it has been funded since 2000. In Wales and Scotland there is an entitlement to two cycles of IVF treatment in the NHS. Now that we are starting to see the economy settle and grow and the worst days are behind us, we must start to invest in services such as IVF and to encourage breastfeeding. It is hugely positive for babies to be breastfed. While it is not necessarily a matter about which is very comfortable to talk, that may be part of the problem. Certainly, I would like to see an emphasis on these issues.

There is no question but that the budget is balanced and fair. Like Senator Michael Mullins, I am a little concerned about Senator Terry Leyden this morning. Perhaps it is no wonder he is reeling. He is going around in ever-decreasing circles. The budget is about making work pay. There is something in it for everyone across the board. The Senator should not be smiling. He can read any newspaper he likes this morning and he will get the truth of the matter.

Does the Senator rely on the newspapers for opinion?

There is a general welcome and a fair and balanced summary in all of the newspapers this morning.

It is all a PR exercise.

Senators can read the editorials and anything else they like.

It is spin.

We are fond of the Senators opposite, but they are codding themselves this morning.

It is not going to go down well with the Senator's council. Why did the Minister not extend the social welfare provisions to councillors?

Senator Paul Coghlan to continue, without interruption.

We will talk to the Senator afterwards because there is no point in gibberish here.

Do not forget what happened in Abbeydorney.