Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the very informative overview. I have listened to a great deal of the discussion and I will try not to repeat material that has been discussed.

The cost of living is hitting many people hard and inflation has increased to almost 7%. The cost of living is very uneven in that some people experience its impact much more than others. For example, when we spoke to officials from the Central Bank they pointed out that rural people, people on fixed incomes and older people are hit hardest by the cost of living.

There is a range of packages available ranging between the fuel allowance, the diesel and petrol prices for school buses and so on, health charges and electricity charges to support people in different ways. Have the officials measured whether the packages reach the most hard hit people? Can they get a handle on the situation? Have they identified other ways to ensure that future measures focus on supporting the people who are hit the hardest by the cost of living and price increases?

A lot of focus has been on energy being the key driver for price increases. However, Covid restrictions and the subsequent disruption to supplies have caused a lot of price increases. For example, the scarcity of timber and insulation products increased the price of construction. At the moment there is much more severe Covid restrictions in China. Also, a huge volume of business, which amounts to over €20 billion, is conducted between Ireland and China and concerns a whole swathe of goods that range from textiles, machinery, electronics and every kind of a thing. What consideration is given to the disruption in supply and the price increases that flow from same? Have the officials measured the effects or taken them into consideration? For example, Shanghai port is experiencing delays due to Covid restrictions and over 500 vessels are waiting outside many Chinese ports thus the unavailability of materials will have an effect in a range of places across the world and I expect that prices will increase.