Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody who contributed to the debate. In particular, I commend Deputy Kerrane on tabling the motion and on championing this issue on behalf of hundreds of thousands of workers and families who continue to struggle in the face of a cost-of-living crisis. They see it in the price of food, energy and other essentials, which continues to rise. They see their bank balances struggle to keep up with the weekly shop and the monthly bill. Some have been forced to make choices nobody should have to make, including whether to eat or whether to heat, cutting back on food shopping and trying to be sparing in the use of electricity in their homes because the money simply does not go far enough.

Some people benefit from inflation, but for the vast majority there is an income squeeze. In the Dáil last week, the Tánaiste contended that the entire world faces a cost-of-living crisis, but the reality is that not everyone does. Lower-income and middle-income families face a far higher bill for their living standards, and a higher fall in living standards, than the wealthiest in society. Cutting back on food, fuel and other essentials is a crisis; having to cut back on luxury items is not. The Government simply does not understand the financial strain ordinary workers and families are under right across this State. If the Government did - if it really got it - it would have responded properly and with greater urgency than it has done. It has not because it does not get it, and that is the simple fact. In the past year, inflation has reached more than 8%. For lower-income to middle-income households, it is some way above 8%. They now see food prices rise and essentials go up in the supermarkets, and they are feeling it right in the pocket. The prices of staples such as bread and meat have gone up by more than 5%, while the prices of pasta and milk have increased by 10%. Some claim that people are living beyond their means; in fact, too many do not have the means to live. That is the reality, and those people need help from a Government that is tone-deaf to these pleas.

To date, the Government's response has been totally inadequate. Despite high levels of inflation and inflation figures we have not seen in decades, it has refused to increase working social welfare rates. That is a disgrace. Members of the Green Party, which is in government and is allowing those people who depend on these fixed incomes to become poorer in light of inflation at in excess of 8%, should quit their jobs now because it is a disgrace that they have left people struggling in that way. It is a shocking dereliction of the Government's duty to protect the most vulnerable. The Government has said its measures are targeted. The Government should not take my word for this; it should take the word of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, for it. IFAC states that of €1 billion in measures since the start of this year, €893 million were untargeted. The Government left those most vulnerable in society without any support whatsoever.

When it comes to energy prices and home heating oil, the Government is making things worse. It is increasing the costs on families and, despite multiple calls and motions from us on this side of the House and amendments we have tabled, one after the other members of the Green Party, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael came in here to vote to increase the cost of living on people by pushing up carbon taxes and excise duties on those same families. The Taoiseach recently doubled down on the Government's refusal to introduce measures to support households until at least October. Even the Tories and even Boris Johnson understand that their government needed to act in a targeted fashion to protect the most vulnerable. The fact that Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens still do not get it and still are more out of touch than even Boris Johnson and the Tories screams loudly.

It is not too late to act, however. That is why we tabled this motion. The Government said it will not oppose the motion. That is not what we want from the Government. We want it to act on the motion. The motion is very clear. It screams loudly to the concerns, plights and needs of hundreds of thousands of people across this State. It recognises that not everybody can be protected from every price increase but that the Government can and must do more. That is why we call on the Government to introduce cost-of-living cash payments to provide immediate financial support to those on lower and middle incomes. Sinn Féin proposes cash payments of €200 for every single adult on incomes less than €30,000 and cash payments of €100 for those on incomes between €30,000 and €60,000. This would come along with another suite of measures we have proposed such as freezing rents and putting a month's rent back into renters' pockets, increasing core social welfare rates to keep in line with inflation, cutting the cost of childcare and introducing a discretionary energy fund, which is needed. People should listen to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and not this balderdash from the Minister that such a fund exists when the dogs on the street know that is not what is needed. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is arguing for the proposal before us. Government Members should not only support it but also get off their backsides and implement it and get their heads out of the sand when it comes to the cost-of-living crisis faced by workers and families right across this State.

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