Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What I am saying is the way I always see the world. It is about the recipient, the ordinary person who comes in to you, and what is happening to them. Inflation took off in 2021. We adjusted somewhat but we adjusted at 5% for an inflation rate of 10%. Wages are much more flexible, particularly in the private sector. They tend to go with the full inflation rate or near enough it. At the end of the day, I do not care, but to a point I just look at the absolute poverty level of people on the ground. Have they got the same buying power this year as last year? Any time inflation runs ahead, we should look at that, particularly for the things they buy like food and essentials, basic transport and whatever. It does not seem to be rocket science. You can have all the surveys and very sophisticated methodologies you want but when you think about it, a household will have a certain amount of money coming in in 2021 and the same thing in 2022 and so on. Any year that the cost of living goes up faster than the rise in the welfare rates, we are going backwards. The reason I am raising this issue is that there is a lot of talk about giveaway budgets but the first part of any rise in either tax credits or social welfare rates is only just catching up with inflation. If you are not catching up with inflation, you are losing. Therefore, there is no giveaway; it is a takeaway. That is the way I see it.