Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Ó Ríordáin.

The Minister of State's response was quite telling, not least when he stated, “This is what underpins our assessment that the current very high rate of inflation is temporary and that it will begin to ease from the second quarter of this year.” We all read the economic reports from the likes of the Economic and Social Research Institute and we are all well versed on economic affairs at this stage. I think what the Minister of State is signalling to the House in response to the motion is that, by and large, the Government is hopeful everything will return to some degree of normality, as will the 2.5% of that 5.7% increase attributed to the cost of energy, but the cost of energy runs through everything we do in society. Whether we are buying a packet of biscuits or pasta, fuelling our cars or heating our houses, it runs through everything we do. I believe the Minister of State's contribution was signalling to the House that the Government is going to be largely non-interventionist in how it approaches the cost-of-living increase. It is hopeful, on a wing and a prayer, that costs will decrease in the second half of this year and, therefore, it will not do a whole pile about it. That is unfortunate. At a time when people expect a response from, and intervention by, the Government, the response from the Minister of State and the Government is unfortunate.

There was something discomfiting about hearing the traffic reports from AA Roadwatch on "Morning Ireland" earlier. The tailbacks and delays at the usual junctions left one with a sense that the gains in respect of quality of life derived from people being able to work from home were evaporating before our very eyes. I hope we will not squander those gains on quality of life and I hope the considerable financial savings people have made by working remotely will not be wiped out by rising fuel costs, in particular for those commuters stuck on major orbital routes around cities such as Dublin, Cork and Limerick and many towns I could mention. The Minister of State made reference to the annual rate of inflation and we all acknowledge the increase, which is at an all-time high. Even so, it will not be long before the gains workers have made from not having to spend hours in the car will be wiped out by the exorbitant cost of petrol and diesel.

There is an opportunity to address the cost-of-living crisis. The Taoiseach informed the House yesterday that he believes increasing wages is not the answer because of what he believes is the danger of a wage price spiral leading to higher inflation, and the Minister of State referred to the same dynamic. I do not know whether that is Government policy, given the Tánaiste was asking the private sector after this week's Cabinet meeting to increase wages. He stated, “Where employers can afford pay increases, they should do so.” That is typical of the mixed messaging of the Government and its inability to deliver one coherent message. The people are listening closely to messages from the Government. Incoherence leads only to further anxiety and this needs to be addressed.

The Taoiseach did not offer solutions yesterday when responding to Deputy Kelly's raising of the issue of spiralling costs across the range of goods and services. Through this motion, we have put forward some solutions. One such measure the Government could consider to address the spiralling costs of energy would be to actively widen access to the fuel allowance for households that are fuel-impoverished. A low-income household would benefit greatly from a refundable carbon tax credit and this would signal a clear transfer from the richest in society to the poorest working families. Another solution would be to provide increases in social protection payments that would keep pace with the rate of inflation, something that was not done in the most recent budget, with a long-term commitment to bring up weekly rates to the minimum essential standard of living.

I do not know whether Fianna Fáil backbenchers are listening to what businesses are telling them at present. I spoke with a primary producer in the agri-food sector on Monday, who informed me his monthly gas bill has increased from €10,000 to €36,000 over recent months. This is really biting in both rural and urban Ireland and it is having a major detrimental effect on businesses' ability to continue to employ people, as was highlighted by Deputy Nash. It is beginning to squeeze the ability of employers to employ people in the economy, and that has to be taken note of.

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