Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

Heating or not heating one's home is not much of a choice. Sending one's children to school with shoes on their feet or whether to give them school uniforms are not choices. Taxing a car, which might be one's only way of getting to work because there is no public transport, is not much of a choice. The Government and a previous Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment continually told everyone that, whether it was on the price of drink at Christmas, getting into different venues or the cost of petrol, we should shop around. One cannot shop around for certain items. In my experience as a mother and someone who has raised a family, I have never been able to find a doctor who undercut his neighbour. They are all the same approximate price and, depending on the location, are exactly the same price. One would wonder where is the consumer protection in this respect.

Where is the Government's protection for consumers concerning private medicine? Where is the protection for consumers in respect of health insurance, petrol or home heating oil? Health and education costs increased by 6% last year. Petrol increased by 9%. ESB and other utilities increased by 15%. We do not trade these on an open market on a monthly basis but they are areas over which the Government has control. This Administration controls the increases. It insisted that development levies be introduced on the building of new houses. At the same time and in the same budget, it removed the first-time buyer's grant which meant the cost of the average house to the first-time buyer increased by €12,000 in one year. Yet the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government stands up and tells the House of how concerned he is about the cost of housing. He is not at all concerned and I think at long last people have come to terms with the fact he is not concerned.

Ireland has the highest rate of VAT and everyone pays it, not just those of us who are well paid, but people who are on the minimum wage. The poor, misfortunate immigrants who are not even getting the minimum wage also pay it.

There are elderly people whom we will be told to keep an eye on for fear they will be found dead from the cold. This Government does not give a damn about the fact they cannot afford to heat their houses. The Government could do something about that.

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