Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What that sums up is that the Tánaiste, as leader of his party, is completely out of touch. We at least have a bit of confidence that some of his backbenchers understand some of the pressures families are under. The proposal we put to him back in November was to engage with the European Commission to get the flexibility to reduce the VAT rate to 0%. The Tánaiste's Government and Minister of Finance did nothing. This issue was first raised when a letter was sent to the European Commission on 10 March. The Government sat on its hands as prices continued to increase and put pressure on families. This Government simply did not, and does not, get what is happening out there. We have seen the cost of home heating oil increase by 127% in the last year. Yet the plan this Government has regarding the price of home heating oil is to increase it by another €20 on 1 May. That is simply madness, and it is driving people to the breaking point.

We put forward not just one or two measures to the Government. We need a suite of measures to deal with the issues raised by the cost-of-living crisis. The Tánaiste's Government has allowed rents to go out of control. We need targeted measures which will reduce costs for those renting. Social welfare recipients, who are on fixed incomes, have seen an increase of just over 2% in those rates, while inflation has increased by 6.7%. Will the Tánaiste commit to introducing a social welfare package? We need a mini-budget and a Government that gets it and is willing to respond swiftly to these pressures.

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