Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann: notes that:

— rural communities and Irish farmers are facing crippling costs for feeds, fertiliser and fuel, which has the potential to wipe out many viable farmers;

— the current cost-of-living crisis places crippling financial pressures on all lower income earners, including pensioners, struggling mortgage holders, unemployed, rural residents and farmers, all of whom are feeling the deep impact of spiraling prices creep up over the last year;

— governments in France, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Holland and Scotland are establishing multi-million-euro aid packages to assist their respective farming sectors mitigate the current cost crisis;

— today, all pig farmers across the country are under extreme financial pressures, and all contingencies have been exhausted, while other issues persist within the pig sector, including African swine fever, the current dire economic situation is critically urgent, and the sector can no longer survive without Government support or intervention; and

— the Irish Government has failed to make any additional supports available to our farmers, despite the tremendous financial pressures they face;

recognises that:

— the soaring cost of food, heating, fuel and housing is causing social inequality and real hardship and is pushing even more people into poverty;

— the carbon tax is the key contributing factor to Ireland's record cost-of-living increases, with transport inflation alone up over 18 per cent in the last year, motor fuels up over 22.6 per cent and home heating oil up a staggering 70 per cent;

— the proposed €200 rebate for household energy bills, while welcome, is completely inadequate given the magnitude of this crisis, which would see that payment eroded in even one household energy bill;

— rural residents who have little or no access to public transport are disproportionately impacted by the record fuel price hikes; and

— the primary drivers of the rising cost of living are within the policy, regulatory and fiscal control of Government; and

calls on the Government to:

— fully acknowledge that the spiraling cost-of-living crisis is now a national emergency and requires a comprehensive and robust package of measures aimed at supporting the less well off, rural residents and impacted sectors such as farming and transport operators;

— immediately act on the European Commission DIY toolbox aimed at mitigating the impact of higher energy prices, by slashing taxes and offering help to impacted households, motorists and sectors such as agriculture and road transport;

— introduce an emergency mini supplementary Budget without delay, aimed at tackling the cost-of-living crisis in a robust and meaningful way, and through a whole-of-Government approach by:

— providing for an immediate increase of €20 per week to all fixed social welfare payments, in order to address the current challenges to low-cost families and shield those people on fixed incomes against the financial pain of ongoing cost increases;

— reversing the decision to increase the carbon tax in Budget 2022 and beyond, until the full impact of the energy crisis is fully understood and a cost-to-benefit analysis undertaken, by whatever parliamentary means necessary, including new legislation, if required;

— reducing the excise duty on all motor fuel by at least 50 per cent until the energy crisis abates and a proper and common-sense plan for rural public transport alternatives is put in place in every rural community, and the purchase price point of electric cars is affordable to the ordinary motorist;

— reducing the excise duty on petrol (currently 62.77 cent per litre), and diesel (currently 51.9 cent per litre), by at least 50 per cent from now until the end of 2022, which alone would save around €18 on a €100 fill of petrol and diesel, for the regular motorist;

— reducing VAT on all motor fuels, electricity, and home heating oil to below 5 per cent until the end of 2022; and

— providing a funding package of at least €75 million to crippling farmers who are all struggling to pay for escalating input costs for fuel, animal feed and fertiliser;

— direct energy suppliers to commit to keeping the lights on for vulnerable and financially insecure customers, and make sure that there are flexible options available for people to address energy debts;

— acknowledge that the pig sector requires an immediate €30 million financial state-aid package to combat the explosive production cost increases and falling revenues;

— further acknowledge that the pig sector alone requires an immediate funding package of at least €30 million, in order to get through the current crisis; and

— fully recognise that for people in energy poverty, assistance is needed in the present, and while retrofitting offers a long-term answer to the high bills caused by inefficient and substandard housing as well as contributing to climate action targets, it is this winter that those people need the urgent support and not in some Governmental plan in six- or seven-years' time.

My colleagues and I in the Rural Independent Group urge all Deputies to support our motion demanding that the Government hold an urgent mini-budget to mitigate and address the spiralling cost-of-living crisis on multiple fronts. The motion seeks to have the Government recognise the cost-of-living crisis as a national emergency. This would necessitate a comprehensive and robust package of measures intended to support less well-off and impacted sectors, via allocating financial aid and slashing consumption taxes. The current cost-of-living crisis is financially crippling to all lower income earners, including pensioners, struggling mortgage holders and the unemployed. It is also having a disproportionate impact on all rural residents and farmers. The cost of electricity bills has increased from €200 to €500, to be paid every two months, and the Government's answer is to give people €200 to cover them for the year. That is nowhere near enough and is nothing short of an insult to people who are struggling.

There is a fertiliser crisis, and farmers face crippling costs for feeds, fertiliser and fuel, which has the potential to wipe out many viable farmers. I remind the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, that 1 tonne of manure has increased in price from €300 to €900. The European Union has indicated the Government can intervene but it is doing nothing, sitting on its hands, because it is a green policy to make people suffer, give them no aid whatsoever and make them stop driving and spreading fertiliser. Where is the Government going to stop? When is someone in Fianna Fáil going to wake up and say that these are not the roots of Fianna Fáil and that this is not the way the party used to work? Fianna Fáil used to work for the people, not make them suffer, but that is what it is trying to do now.

On the cost of fuel, people call me and I presume every other Deputy in the House, and talk to me when they meet me in the street. They cannot afford to put fuel in their cars but, again, this is what the Green Party, in government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, wants. They want to bully the people and to price fuel so high that no one can afford to travel. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, should remember that every Government Deputy will have to face the people, and they are very hungry and very anxious to meet them at the doorstep. When they meet, they will get a fair bit of a reddening. Many of them will get their - I will not say what - out the door and down the road.

Young families and pensioners are frozen in their own homes. The latter are the people who built Ireland, and this is what the Government has done to the pensioners of Ireland. They cannot afford to heat their homes. Perhaps the Government is immune to us consistently repeating ourselves but that is the truth of the matter. Many of our pensioners are slightly over the limit to receive the fuel allowance. They cannot access it or the retrofitting scheme, perhaps because they got a couple of rolls of insulation in their attic eight or ten years ago. I received a letter on Monday night from a constituent who is suffering from cancer. She cannot access the fuel allowance. She is frozen in her own home and suffering from cancer. Do not believe for one minute that her case is a once-off; I get these letters and calls consistently.

Ireland is the most expensive country in the European Union for housing, with record rents, the highest mortgage interest rates in the EU and a chronic lack of supply, which caused house prices to increase by 14% in the year to November 2021.

The skimpy package of measures recently announced by the Government is grossly insufficient given the depth and impact of the crisis. That is why we are tabling this motion, which is aimed at forcing an out-of-touch Government into holding a mini-budget. For almost a year, my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group and I have been emphasising the need to tackle inflationary pressures, brought about predominantly by the Government’s frenzied green policies and crippling carbon taxes. Unfortunately, the Government has been idle, allowing costs to soar while simultaneously benefiting from record VAT, excise duties and carbon tax from fuel, home heating, electricity, household goods, building materials, fertiliser and animal feeds. VAT, for instance, is calculated as a percentage of the price of goods or services, meaning that as those prices inflate, so too do VAT receipts for the Government. Thus, inflation means higher prices, and more money flowing into the Exchequer.

Increased transport and home fuel costs are causing extreme financial hardship for many households, small businesses and farmers. We believe, therefore, that the best way to ensure prices will fall rapidly is to reduce VAT, excise duties and carbon tax on all fuel types at least until the end of 2022. The greatest advantage of using consumption taxes to provide relief against inflation is that the impact can be felt by the public immediately. With the European Commission already recommending that member states take this course, the Government must finally act. The only meaningful way to tackle current inflation and protect consumers is through taxation reliefs and increasing all fixed social welfare payments by €20 per week. The increase of €5 in weekly social welfare rates in budget 2022 is grossly insufficient to keep pace with rising prices, resulting in a significant cut in living standards for those on fixed incomes.

In tandem with these measures, financially pressed farmers require a multi-million euro package, as called for in our motion, to mitigate a 300% jump in fertiliser costs, combined with the impacts of fuel, feed and energy spikes, which are crippling to all farmers. The latest country-by-country scorecard from the European Commission warns that inflationary and cost-of-living pressures will persist in Ireland for 2022 and will increase faster this year here than in any other country in Europe. In its winter 2022 outlook, the EU projects an average rate of inflation of 4.6% for Ireland this year, which is higher than the 3.5% rate it has forecast for the eurozone as a whole. In other warnings about the soaring cost of living crisis in Ireland and inflation, many leading economists are warning prices are likely to remain high throughout 2022 and beyond, with food and fuel becoming increasingly less affordable.

It is time to act. We have been calling on the Government to act for the past 12 months. Will it for once sit up and listen?

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