Ms Colette Bennett:

I thank the Deputy for all of the points that he raised. He talked about what people are prioritising. I recall that when the environmental justice arm of Community Law & Mediation conducted research and held focus groups in areas that had high levels of disadvantage, they came across the phrase, "it is toss up between the end of the week or the end of the world" and the people in these areas have to think of the end of the week. I say that in response to the Deputy talking about people choosing to use a type of fuel because it will heat them and will be cost-effective for them in the immediate term. That is an issue but the overarching issue is income inadequacy because when people have an adequate income, they do not have to make those kind of choices as the end of their week is sorted and they can make longer-term decisions.

There is a lot of talk about energy poverty. Essentially, if the money comes out of the one pot, then it is all poverty. We talk about food and energy inflation. Yes, we are having spikes in those things at the moment, so the State needs to step in when there are such inflationary shocks.

However, before any of this was an issue in the past year and a half, we had income inadequacy and people living well below the poverty line. We still had people making decisions on whether to keep a roof over their head, feed themselves in addition to their children or heat enough rooms in their home. It goes back to the main point of this meeting being on income adequacy and what that means.

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan mentioned proposals for change in child benefit. I echo the points made by my colleagues in the room on the need for not only adequate payments for children and universal payments but also to bear in mind that children do not tend to live in isolation. They are part of a family and household. If the household is not keeping its head above water, the children will not be either.

My colleagues referenced the Insolvency Service of Ireland. Child benefit is a protected payment so even if a low-income household is going for a debt relief notice, the child benefit is still protected. It is not taken into account in the income calculation. There is an overarching piece around increasing child benefit, making it more universal or increasing the benefits. All of those things need to be done but it sits in the context of a broader discussion outside the remit of this committee but which needs to be borne in mind. We are looking at excessively high inflation in accommodation and at an accommodation crisis, and are paying well above the odds for childcare. We have an inadequate public transport system. Other things are impacting on people’s standard and quality of living, as well as their cost of living, and will have an impact on whether a basic payment will be adequate for them.