Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I begin by extending, on behalf of Sinn Féin, my condolences on the passing of South Belfast MLA, Christopher Stalford, to Christopher's wife, Laura, to his four children, his family, friends and colleagues in the DUP. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they grieve his loss.

Tá dhá tuairisc a fhoilsíodh an tseachtain seo a chaitheann síos go mór ar fhreagra an Rialtais seo maidir le géarchéim na gcostas maireachtála chun solais. Is í an fhírinne ná nach bhfuil go leor á dhéanamh. Tá páistí ar an líne bhochtaineachta anois mar gheall ar chostais atá ag ardú.

Children face the sharp edge of the cost-of-living crisis. Barnardos Ireland has published a report which states that one quarter of families fear they will not be able to feed their kids as the price of groceries soars. Barnardos CEO, Suzanne Connolly, has stated families are running out earlier due to increasing costs. She has said the situation is now very serious for low- and middle-income families. In its Report Card 2022, published yesterday, the Children's Rights Alliance awarded the Government a grade E to reflect the increasing number of children experiencing homelessness. Extortionate rents that ordinary families cannot afford are a key driver in this scandal.

The package announced by Government does not go far enough. It barely scratches the surface. It is not just me or Sinn Féin telling the Government this. Barnardos, St. Vincent de Paul, Social Justice Ireland and other organisations are all saying the same thing. The Government could have made better choices. It could have acted as Sinn Féin proposed. It could have cut rents and banned increases, but it did not. It could have cut childcare costs. It did not do that. It could have expanded and extended the fuel allowance. It did not do that either. It could have provided a cost-of-living cash payment to individuals. Again, it refused to do so. A one-off energy credit paid in March or April is better than nothing, but it will not make a dent when people are paying thousands to light and heat their homes. Last month, gas demand rose by 11% as temperatures dropped. At the weekend, Sinn Féin activists were out engaging with communities. People were coming to their doors with energy bills that were so high they described them as the straw that would finally break their backs.

What is the Government response to all of this hardship? First, the Taoiseach is telling people that no further help is coming from the Government and that they will have to wait at least seven months for the budget. You are on your own, is the message from the Head of Government. Then we have the Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar, piping up and talking about increasing interest rates, a measure that would not help any families but would heap additional financial pressure on workers and households. Then, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and his Government colleagues plan to go ahead with a carbon tax increase that will make it even more expensive for families to keep their homes warm. To crown it all off, on Wednesday evening, the Government rolled in here and voted to ensure cuckoo funds continue to pay no tax on rental income and no capital gains tax, the very same funds that are gobbling up family homes, making home ownership unaffordable and helping drive rents up, up and up.

The Government needs a reality check. It needs to wake up and understand where ordinary people are at. The Government is living in dreamland if it thinks that people can hang on and wait until next October, when the Government announces next year's budget. Families and children need a far better intervention from Government to bring down the cost of living, and they need it right here, right now. That is what the call is for. Is the Government going to leave them in the lurch or is it going to do as Sinn Féin has asked and act to support those families and children, who so many organisations are saying are being left behind as a result of its policies?

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