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

There is a view, and it might be argued by the Ministers here, that if you give people a rise in their income, it leads to spiralling inflation. That is nonsense. There has not been a decent rise in income for most workers in this country for years. The ICTU reckons that over the past two years, workers have lost about €2,500 of their income because of inflation. The Tánaiste can say what he likes about the Government's interventions, but what we are talking about here in this cost-of-living crisis is a reality. We are not making it up. Everybody feels it. The Tánaiste himself has just outlined how middle-income earners feel it too. Middle- and low-income earners are workers, and they need a pay rise. The reports we are hearing from the public sector pay talks are quite worrying, because that will set the benchmark for everybody. That is why we are calling on people to get active on the issue and to insist their unions put in inflation-matching pay claims. It is not true that staff working in Tesco or ESB got inflation-matching pay rises. Over the years, the rises will average out at 2%, 3% or 4% at most. We have a real crisis on our hands. Giving workers and those on social protection an income that can match inflation will not cause inflation.

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