Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Today, families around the country are being hammered. Hundreds of thousands of families are living from overdraft to overdraft and many others are completely maxed out. Families are going without food and heat. Energy prices are sky-rocketing. It is incredible that people are spending time awake at night trying to work out what bill they can afford to pay and how they will make ends meet. Some of the advice we have gotten from the Government in response to this is incredible. Ministers have told us to drive slowly and shop around. Today, inflation hit 8.2% in this State. That is an incredible level. That money is coming out of the people's pockets.

There are obviously a number of reasons for this, some of which are international and beyond the control of the Government, but many are local and in the control of the Government. It is interesting that the Government is now blaming Covid supply chains for some of the breakdowns leading to this inflation. This Government imposed the longest and most severe lockdowns on supply chains in all of Europe. The Government's policies led directly, in many ways, to the crisis people are now experiencing in their pockets. The Government is in control of the fuel issue as well. Over 50% of the price of a litre of fuel is Government tax. The higher price the fuel goes, the more the Government makes. Last year, the Government made €1.5 billion extra in VAT as a result of the increased cost of fuel. The Minister of State is refusing to look at VAT on fuel. He said the Government's hands are tied by the EU on this but the Government did not feel the same reticence in reducing VAT on hotels, for example. There was no problem with that. Some in that sector are now gouging tourists and locals alike with regard to prices. The profits and turnovers of many energy firms are rocketing. Some of these are local, including the ESB. The ESB made a profit of €679 million up to December 2021. It is a State-owned company and yet it is still increasing the price of electricity for consumers. The Government, as the majority shareholder of the ESB, could ask it to reduce the pressure on families but it will not.

Last week, Aontú raised the issue of the M50 tolls. If there was ever a monument to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael waste, it has to be the two toll bridges on the M50. They were built at a cost of €58 million in a public-private partnership signed off on by Pádraig Flynn, who, it later became known from a tribunal, received a donation from the successful company. That company charged tolls on those bridges for years. It recouped the cost of building those toll bridges in just one year. It then sold those bridges to the State for €600 million, after making a massive profits on it. Since 2009, the Government has recouped €1.3 billion on these tolls on the busiest road in the country. This Government is in charge of that. It could reduce the pressure on families by reducing or scrapping that toll but it will not.

Regarding food prices, today's farm inflation is tomorrow's consumer inflation. Last year, the price of fertiliser increased by 149%. Now 78% of farmers are going to reduce the amount of fertiliser they use. This is coupled with the fact that the price of cattle coming into farm has increased by 22% and feed prices are going up. Even before this inflation came into being, farmers were barely making a living in this country. Aontú has asked for the Government to subsidise fertiliser prices but it has refused to do so. As a result, after this harvest, the increased prices in the inputs of farming will mean increased prices on the shelves for consumers. In all these situations, the Government is refusing to act. Before this inflation crisis hit, this State was the sixth most expensive country in Europe, and Dublin the fourth most expensive city, because the Government will not reform the sectors that are maximising profits. Even when the Troika were here, they pointed the finger at closeted sectors the Government would not reform. There is a laissez-faireattitude from this Government when it comes to fixing the cost of living and that laissez-faireattitude is costing people dearly.

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