Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Again, I acknowledge that the cost of living in Ireland is high. It was high before the current inflation crisis, compared with our peers. The cost of living in Ireland is about 30% or 35% higher than it is in similar countries. Our wages and salaries are also about 30% or 35% higher than in similar countries, which is important to bear in mind. While the Deputy's party has given us options and ideas as to how we can further assist people with the cost of living, it has not said how we should pay for or operationalise them. In many ways, that is the difference between Government and Opposition. In opposition, it is easy to throw out solutions that are popular. The Opposition does not necessarily have to demonstrate how they are operationalised or paid for.

One thing we want to avoid as a Government is getting into a situation whereby we are using borrowed money. Interest rates for government borrowing are rising too, and we want to avoid a situation whereby we borrow money to help people with the cost of living because that is false help. We would then have to take it back off them down the line, and that is something we want to avoid. Whatever we do, we need to make sure we do it in a way that is prudent, helping people with the cost of living but not using their own credit card to pay for it, and that is why the Government has put so much effort into securing investment and employment, which drive the growth we need to pay for things.

See this speech in context