Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The energy crisis and food price rises, as mentioned, are at the centre of this. The Deputy is absolutely right that those on the lowest incomes are most at risk and the percentage of their incomes going on basic essentials, such as food and energy bills, puts them at particular risk. It is important that we look at our social welfare system in that regard.

It is very uncertain. We have been looking at inflation rates for the past three months. It was 5.7% in December and then went down to 5.1% in January. My understanding is that, according to the figures release today, the rate was 5.6% for February. It is likely, from what we are seeing because of this war in global food prices going up and increasing energy prices, there will be further pressure. The food issue is particularly serious and grave, particularly for countries in the Middle East and developing countries that are reliant on Ukrainian and Russian grain for their basic daily sustenance and survival needs. First things first, we should be looking to our overseas aid and the Department of Foreign Affairs regarding what we can do to support that.

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