Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

In this Chamber we hear much about the cost of living but the Society of St. Vincent de Paul report from several months ago captured the issue more succinctly. For too many families in this country, it is the cost of survival. There was a report yesterday from the ESRI that demonstrated clearly that those most vulnerable are, once again, lone parents and adults of a working age living with a disability. We need targeted interventions immediately. We in the Social Democrats are asking for advanced targeted measures for people who are worried about the cost of survival, be that to feed themselves or the cost of electricity, and to do it more quickly. We cannot simply say to people who are hungry in this country that they must wait until October and see what happens then. We need it more immediately. We are asking for an intervention that comes before the budget. People are really struggling at this point.

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