Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is an extraordinary response and a very disappointing one. When the Minister says the Government is at one on these matters I can only assume he is therefore reiterating the position of the Minister for Finance that the Government has no plans to take further measures this side of October. Whereas the State's economic and fiscal forecast needs to be reset this springtime, I tell the Minister households' economic and fiscal realities have taken a battering. It is simply unreal and not accepting of the reality of the soaring inflation crisis to suggest the Government will sit this out for the next number of weeks and months. That is not dealing with the reality. I appeal to him again to move on this. We accept the phenomenon is global. The Minister does not have to keep repeating that. Nobody is placing the origins of this crisis at the Minister's feet - far from it. However, there is an absolute immediate expectation the Government will act now and not wait until October. That is not real. Will the Minister move on the issue of VAT and of removing excise from home heating oil? Will he move on them now and give people some small breathing space?

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