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

I acknowledge again the seriousness of this issue, the fact the cost of living is rising and rising fast, that many families are feeling the pinch and that the Government needs to act. As I said in my response earlier, the Government has already acted but we will need to do more. The budget, which was passed in October and which only came into effect a few weeks ago, included a cost of living package worth more than €1 billion. That included increases in pensions and welfare and reductions in personal taxation for middle-income earners. People earning €38,000, €45,000 or €50,000 per year were the main beneficiaries of that in cash and percentage terms. While the Labour Party may think that people earning around €30,000 or €40,000 are not feeling the pinch, I think it is wrong. We stand over the fact we reduced personal taxes for people on middle incomes. That was capped once people hit the higher income levels.

What else was in the budget? There was an increase in pensions across the board, increases in weekly welfare payments and targeted increases in payments. The living alone allowance was increased and for people on welfare with a dependent child, the child dependent allowance was increased. The fuel allowance eligibility was widened in the previous budget, only a few months ago. While many people would have received an increase of only €5 per week, those living alone and those with dependent children received increases of around €14 per week, which is obviously a much larger figure than €5. There have also been increases in pay. A public sector pay deal has been agreed, providing for pay increases, albeit modest ones, this February and October. The national minimum wage went up just five weeks ago. We have brought in a freeze on childcare fees which has been welcomed by the vast majority of families, given the high cost of childcare. We have also reduced the cost of medicines.

A €1 billion cost of living package was announced in the budget in October, legislated for in November and December, opposed by the Opposition parties and it came into effect only a few weeks ago. We acknowledge that because inflation is higher than we anticipated it would be, we now have to do more, and that is what we will do today. We will announce additional measures to reduce the cost of living for people, particularly the cost of energy, but also putting more money into the pockets of those who need that money the most.

I also need to acknowledge, and Deputy Ó Ríordáin should acknowledge it too, that no matter what we announce, he will say it is not enough. He does not even know what we are going to announce and he has already said it is not enough. The press release is already written, the lines have already been sent out to his party's Deputies, Senators and councillors. No matter what the Government does, Deputy Ó Ríordáin is going to say it is not enough because promises are cheap when you are in opposition and you do not have to make decisions. Promises are cheap but they are not honest. We all know what the Labour Party did in government and it was not give money back to people; it was take it off them.

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