Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas. Everyone here accepts that there is an absolute crisis here in the cost of living. We have all engaged with people and realise what they are going through. We have all seen the prices that are going through the roof whether it is people buying their regular weekly shopping, at the fuel pump, or home heating oil. It does not matter because prices are just going through the roof. We know that there are many reasons for that and that the Government does not have full control over it. We know that there are inflationary impacts on us that we cannot completely control. We know that we have issues in respect of supply chains which relate to Covid-19 and to Brexit. We note that there are very significant geopolitical problems and considerations at this point in time with Russian gas. The EU Toolkit was in place since October and there are things that we can and need to do.

We are also hampered in this State because we are living with some of our primary sins in the cost of housing, rentals in particular, and childcare. Until we address them, we will not be dealing some of the vast issues we have with poverty and the pain that people are going through at this point in time.

We have some sort of solution here with the €100 and many people will be very glad to get it. Even in respect of this piece of legislation, we need to allow for flexibility. We have amendments in there. There are differences in Government, or at least we are led to believe from leaks from parliamentary party meetings that that is the case. We have to allow that this will not cut it and that there may be a need for a further amount at a later stage. This is about mitigating the pain that is out there. This is no different from what happened during the Covid-19 pandemic period, which is about the State stepping up to the mark. We have to give full facility to be able to deliver that.

I accept that there are difficulties in targeting this and aiming it at those who need it. I am not going to say that everyone around here does not need it because we all know that that is the case. We all know that it can be difficult to specifically target something. That is an issue we need to deal with in the systems, including database systems, at later stages and times so that we will have those options open to us. Hopefully, we will not need them as much as we need it at this point in time.

There are things we can do, however. We need to look at home heating, fuel, excise and VAT and to really say that we cannot afford to add any increases in carbon tax. That is not to get into the argument on carbon taxes but is in respect of the point we find ourselves now. We have to look at what we can do in not double-paying, on holiday homes and to ensure that we can put in whatever facility for people to surrender. We need to have a conversation with the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. There needs to be a discretionary fund. We are all reliant on community organisations such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul, the Simon Community and Save Our Homeless Dundalk, where there are many people doing great work. It is not, however, enough as the State needs to step up to the mark and it needs to offer whatever mitigations it can. We need to do it. It is not good enough. Gabhaim buíochas.

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