Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I do not have a prepared response to his question. Most of the issues he has raised have been dealt with by way of motions in this House. There have already been two such motions this week. There were resolutions last night with respect to Revenue issues. The debate we have had this morning has covered a number of issues around the cost of living and the impact of inflation. Everybody accepts that the projections for inflation are much higher now than they were before the war in Ukraine. This is a matter that can have implications for everybody in Ireland. The people know that no government can fully insulate a country from the effects of the ongoing war in Ukraine. However, this Government is putting in as much effort as it can with the significant €2.1 billion in funding that was announced last October and which will run until the summer. Most of that money has been targeted towards the areas that need it most, which is important.

Of course, all of this is coming at a time when we have emerged, or are still emerging, from the pandemic. The worst effects of Covid, and the allied restrictions on the economy, have been lifted. There is pent-up demand. Many people were waiting to get work done and that has led to a surge in prices because everybody knows it is difficult to get tradespeople to do work in the construction industry and in many other sectors of the Irish economy. That in itself is a good point. There are now 2.5 million people in the workforce, which is the highest number ever in the workforce in Ireland. That figure is even higher than it was before the onset of the pandemic. People are getting back to work. More people are working now than were working before the pandemic. A wage is the best way of helping people with inflation, along with the targeted measures the Government has been introducing. Those measures were outlined at length last week and have been outlined this morning.

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