Mr. Ciar?n Nugent:

We saw from the Eurobarometer data this spring that approximately 23% of Irish respondents felt they were worse off this year than they were last year, with only 13% saying they felt better off and the remainder feeling they were about the same. Workers have taken a real wage cut in the past year or two. The minimum wage is further away from a living wage in real terms than it was even in 2018. Everywhere, people are struggling. There is a mismatch, as we have discussed, in regard to taxation and the need for a rainy day fund, as against the need to have a balance with current spending to tackle cost-of-living issues. The problem is all in housing and it is particularly acute in Dublin, where, as the Deputy said, a worker on €50,000 or even two workers on €50,000 each in the same household will struggle to buy a house. They will be subject to excessive rents that are ultimately unsustainable. Public sector wages are down in real terms, as is the minimum wage. There is a balance as well, as Dr. McDonnell alluded to, in that we have a very globalised economy and there are competitiveness issues. Increases in wages will help, particularly for households in deprivation. Ultimately, however, we have a high-cost economy, which means the long-term strategy is to bring down the cost of living in order to tackle the inadequate purchasing power of wages. The Commission on Taxation and Welfare recommended a bunch of different areas in which to raise more taxes, the revenues of which it recommended be spent on areas like housing, childcare and public transport in order to bring down the cost of living.