Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach is not a commentator. We all know the external factors that are pushing up prices. They have been referenced many times before, but that does not absolve him as Taoiseach or the Government from acting and doing everything in their power to protect households and families here. Households are struggling to make it to the end of the week and the Taoiseach is telling them that they have to tighten their belt and that as the leader of this Government, he is not going to intervene with any single further measure until at least October, at the very earliest. That is testament of a Taoiseach and a Government who are so far out of touch we could not make it up. Forget about what we are saying, the Government should listen to what ordinary people are saying. People are going in their thousands to food banks. Many households cannot put food on the table. They are making seriously difficult choices about going from A to B - getting to work, going for a hospital appointment or feeding their children with a bowl of cereal in the morning. The Taoiseach stands there and says he is not going to intervene for another five months at the earliest. We know the Government cannot do everything but it needs to do more. It needs to bring forward a mini budget-----

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