Ms Caroline Fahy:

Mostly. The main categories are food and energy costs. I will cite two priorities, the first of which is tackling the housing crisis. It is unacceptable that families must stay in hotels. Our members are exercised about this problem and it is difficult to know how to help a homeless family being housed in a hotel for an extended period. There has been a failure to provide social housing; affordability problems are arising in the private rented sector, while the poor quality of housing is an issue, in that a house can be difficult to heat, leading to greater energy bills and more pressure on people. In a broad sense, the housing issue needs to be tackled.

There have been extra charges and an increase in the cost of living for people in work and those in receipt of social welfare payments, but this fact has not been reflected in social welfare payments and secondary benefits. Low paid work is taxed more than it ever was.