The Green Party in government delivered a Budget focused on improving the lives of our children, families and the environment while also planning and providing for the future.

The Green Party-inspired baby boost will see €420 paid to new mothers on the birth of their child.
That comes on top of a €15 increase to child benefit and two double child benefit payments before Christmas worth €560.
Children under-nine will also get free public transport and all primary school children will receive hot school meals every day for the first time.
Leaving Certificate students will meanwhile benefit from free school books and the abolition of fees to sit the exams.
Students in third-level will see the cost of fees reduced and the quality of their education improved.
Other family focused measures include increased access to IVF and free HRT. 

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Funding for warmer homes scheme will be increased by €90m while the scheme for low-income households will have a budget of €240m or ten times higher than it was in 2020. This means more funding than ever will be available to make homes warmer, healthier, more comfortable and less expensive to heat. Other improvements in this area include a reduction on the VAT charged on heat pumps and energy credits worth €250 for everybody who pays electricity bills.

 

The Green party also welcomes the Maternity Protection Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Bill 2024 passing all stages in the Oireachtas which was championed by Minister Roderic O’Gorman.

This legislation will allow an employee who receives a diagnosis of a serious illness to postpone maternity leave until treatment is concluded, and follows the ‘Leave Our Leave’ campaign by the Irish Cancer Society.

The maternity leave can be postponed for between 5 and 52 weeks, on certification from their doctor. Postponing maternity leave will not sacrifice other forms of leave, such as unpaid maternity leave and Parents Leave.

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The Bill also enshrines in legislation the principle that members of the Houses of the Oireachtas who give birth can take 26 weeks maternity leave, and includes amendments to the Employment Equality Act 1998 to regulate the use of non-disclosure agreements related to discrimination and harassment.

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