Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That simply does not cut it. The mantra coming from the Government that we are going to do nothing until October's budget at the very earliest is something that it feels it should be proud of. The Government needs to listen to where ordinary people are at. Every single day they are feeling that squeeze. They are seeing it in food prices that have gone up by 5%. They are seeing it in energy costs that have gone up by 57%. The ESRI report today talks about average families looking at up to €40 per week.

The Minister of State referred to insulating or trying to protect those on low and middle incomes, but the reality is that it has not happened. The Minister of State should not just listen to me. If he listens to those on the front line, whether the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, One Family or Social Justice Ireland, they will all tell him that more needs to be done. We recognise that the Government cannot insulate everybody from the inflationary pressures that we are seeing and that are turbo-charged by the war in Ukraine, but it can do more. That is why the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Central Bank says there is space to do more at this point in time. Why is it that the Government refuses to deal with the serious pressing needs of so many households at this point, right here and right now?

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