Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Workers and families across the State, including in my community in Cork city, cannot catch a break. They are forced to make incredibly difficult choices which no family should have to make between paying a bill and putting food on the table. That issue will rise further up the agenda as time goes on. They have to choose between turning on the heating or filling the car to go to school or work. For months we have been urging the Government to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. The cost-of-living crisis did not arise yesterday or the day before. We have been talking about it for months. It is not just about fuel. It is about childcare, rent and all the additional costs that families have to fork out for because we do not adequately fund our public services.

We have been urging the Government to act on this. Instead, we are faced with a Minister of State telling people to shop around and stop complaining. Shopping around is no answer when childcare costs are akin to a second mortgage. It is no answer when increasing food prices will affect every retail outlet and the same is true with energy prices. It will do nothing for runaway rents or for the back-to-school costs that families will experience this summer in the hundreds of euro and often over €1,000.

It speaks volumes that we have seen a Tory government in Britain moving to address the cost-of-living crisis to a greater effect than anything from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The Government needs to stop dragging its heels. We need to get cash into the pockets of workers and families who need it. Ministers have made much of the social welfare supports available. The current social welfare rates do not match rising energy and food prices. The majority of workers are not benefiting from some of the increases, such as the fuel allowance increase.

We need targeted measures for families and workers who need help. We need reductions in the cost of home heating oil. We need increased social welfare rates to match the rate of rising prices. We need a reduction in childcare costs which are crippling families and keeping people back from work. We need a ban on rent increases. Waiting for budget day will not cut it.

The time to act was yesterday, and the next best time to act is today. I urge the Minister not only to pass this motion but to implement it.

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