Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Many people are being impacted by the sharp increase in the cost of living. The people who will be most affected by this cost of living crisis will be the 630,000 people living below the poverty line which, scandalously, includes 165,000 children and low-paid workers. These are the individuals and families faced with the stark choice to eat or heat. The Government must respond with much more than €113 off our electricity bills. Electricity has risen by 22.4% in cost but gas bills have increased by 27%, and oil heating is up by 53%. The weekly family shop has increased by an estimated €15 a week. A range of measures is needed which should be targeted at those most in need of help. The Government must look at measures adopted in other EU states, such as reductions in carbon taxes and VAT.

The €5 increase in the basic weekly welfare rates in the budget did not even compensate for the fact that there had been no increase in the previous two budgets. In effect, it was a cut. The situation must now be immediately rectified with at least another €5 increase. Even with such measures, many will still struggle to make ends meet. A targeted response, aimed at those who are most in need, must be an urgent priority. The €160 million to fund the €100 off electricity bills should be matched as part of an emergency fund to help meet exceptional payments. Such a fund could be delivered by community welfare officers based in the community, as they were during the 1980s. This could really assist individuals and families who are struggling. For some reason, a number of years ago community welfare officers were withdrawn from the communities they worked in. They should be relocated back into the communities, armed with a special fund to meet exceptional needs.

Part of this emergency response must also be a national information campaign to inform those people who are struggling of the various options available to them. For example, do people know that they can engage with their energy supplier if they fear being cut off, and if they make an arrears repayment plan or pay-as-you-go arrangement they cannot be cut off? Do people know that if they register with their supplier as having exceptional needs they cannot be cut off in the winter time? Do people know that they can apply to a community welfare officer for an exceptional payment?

Before I conclude I wish to raise a point about the fuel allowance. I raised this with the Minister last year. The so-called increase in the fuel allowance of last year brought it up to €33 per week. I have calculated that this would put €900 into people's pockets over the 28 weeks. Mr. Daragh Cassidy of the price comparison websitebonkers.iehas said that some suppliers have announced price hikes that will add up to €800 to energy bills. That was at the end of last year and we know there will be more energy price hikes. In effect, the fuel allowance is paying for the price hikes in fossil fuels. The people who receive the allowance are getting the money to pay for the price increases but will still have to find the money out of their own income for the basic cost of their fuel expenditure. The increase will not really benefit them in any way. The fuel allowance should be increased, it should be expanded to all social welfare recipients, and the means test should be removed. I urge the Government to consider these suggestions as an urgent response to this crisis.

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