Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

When I was listening to the Tánaiste's spat with Deputy Doherty earlier, I was thinking this House must be full of bowsies. I, too, went to jail, along with dozens of other ordinary people, fighting the cost-of-living increase in 2003. Bin charges, which are now privatised, are going through the roof and vast profits are being made, and this is one of the issues in the current cost-of-living crisis. However, today's ESRI report is really startling and shows that there are many more thousands of people living in energy poverty than this Government ever calculated for. The Government calculates energy poverty based on the number of recipients of the fuel allowance. The ESRI calculates energy poverty based on the number of people spending more than 10% of their income on fuel. The number of households living in energy poverty has risen to 550,000. The measures the Government has introduced and which it goes on about, such as the increase in the fuel allowance and the €200 payment for electricity customers, do not even scratch the surface of what needs to be done. The Government must intervene between now and the budget rather than doing nothing in that period.

On Saturday, ordinary people will be staging an intervention by taking to the streets in around five cities throughout the country to protest against the rises in the cost of living. A huge chunk of society is being hammered and this Government has no plan to do anything substantial to address it. There are 200,000 households that do not get the meagre fuel allowance and do not benefit from any of the measures introduced as part of the household benefits package, which has not increased since 2013. There are 480,000 people who qualify for that.

The Government has quite a scandal on its hands and it is not doing anything to intervene to help people. What needs to be done is that workers and people on low incomes who are dependent on social welfare need a pay rise to match inflation. The reports from the public sector pay talks are worrying, and the Minister beside the Tánaiste will know, this, in that they indicate the Government is only talking about below-inflation increases. That will not cut the mustard at all. Workers and people on benefits need increases to match inflation. If they do not get that, the crisis will continue to spiral. Measures such as €100 here or €200 there will not do it. All the Government keeps saying is "mañana, mañana". What is the Government going to do today, tomorrow and before the kids go back to school in September to alleviate the struggles people are facing, including pensioners, people on social protection, workers, families and students, who also face massive costs and earn very little pay? The unions need to step up to the plate and put in pay claims that match inflation, and workers must insist they get that. That will set the benchmark and Government will then have increase social welfare benefits to match inflation.

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