Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The cost of living is beginning to hurt. I want to raise a specific issue, which is that the cost of getting to and from work is rising, as the Minister well knows. The Government has taken some steps to try to combat the cost of fuel but it has not been able to combat it adequately for the many people in the country who have to travel to work. It is costing people more and more to get to work. Obviously, it has to pay to be at work. The Government has created economic conditions whereby a huge amount of employment has been created in the State, which is to be welcomed. A very large amount of that employment is in low-paid work. That is a problem, particularly when it is costing people money to get to work.

There is a cohort I specifically want to raise, that is, those who drive as part of their work. They not only have to drive to work but driving is a part of their job. Public health nurses are one example but there are many others across the public and private sectors. The Civil Service has set mileage rates for people who drive as part of their work, which give a certain amount per kilometre. Those rates apply not just to everybody in the public sector, including HSE employees, Revenue employees and so on, but, in addition, many, if not all, employers in the private sector use the same rates. In fact, Revenue references those rates.

The rate at which people are paid for driving as part of their work dates from 1 April, April Fool's Day, 2017. The Minister cannot but agree that the cost of driving has increased hugely since then. In fact, the cost of driving has increased hugely since 1 April 2022. While there is a broader issue around the cost of fuel and the cost of living generally, and we can address all of that if the Minister would like to, my specific question is whether he will change the mileage rate to enable people who drive not just to and from work but as part of their work to do so without it coming out of their pocket. By doing so, they are subventing the employment they are engaged in for the benefit of their employers, whether that be the HSE, any other entity of the State or the private sector. That type of work is becoming unaffordable for those who engage in it.

See this speech in context