Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has given me the courtesy of a very direct question. Unfortunately, I have not yet had the chance to read that report so I would have to look at it before I could tell him which recommendations we can and cannot implement. I acknowledge that many people in Ireland experience energy poverty, or fuel poverty, if one prefers to use that term. This is particularly relevant at this time of the year during the winter as days get darker and colder. We are all aware that quite a considerable number of people every year across the western world, including Ireland, die as a result of cold-related illnesses.

What are we doing about it? There are four main measures. First, the fuel allowance will go up again in a few weeks in January. We are investing in retrofitting social housing to make sure we improve the quality of that housing and make those homes warmer. New building standards mean that pretty much all new buildings and new homes are near zero-energy buildings. The better energy warmer homes scheme can assist people to retrofit their homes and make them warmer. Local authorities also have a role to play. Many parties opposite are in controlling positions in local authorities and can reduce or increase property tax or commercial rates. They also need to be held accountable for their decisions where they choose to reduce property tax instead of, for example, investing in housing and other services or perhaps choosing whitewater rafting as a priority over other issues when they get control of a local authority.

It would be remiss of the House not to acknowledge the significant progress that has been made in recent years in reducing poverty. Notwithstanding the many individual stories of people suffering and families in distress, we know from the CSO survey on income and living conditions, published last week, that poverty in Ireland has fallen for five years in a row. It is at its lowest in a very long time. Deprivation rates are falling and income inequality is at its second lowest since records began. This is a considerable achievement that perhaps does not always come across when we tend to focus on hard cases, however real they may be. We are seeing significant progress in reducing poverty, including child poverty, and deprivation in recent years. This did not happen by accident. It happened because we have jobs, the economy is being well managed, the minimum wage has been increased and incomes and pay are increasing. Take-home pay is increasing because of reductions in tax and increases in social welfare. Those will continue as long as we manage the economy and public finances well.

See this speech in context