Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I would argue that the measures the Government has introduced to date are not working. Indeed, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, report published today is sending a clear signal to the Government that the measures it has brought in so far are not working. The ESRI has recommended a number of targeted measures which it believes is the way out of this crisis. One is an emergency Christmas-bonus-style double welfare payment and another is an expansion of the fuel allowance to include those in receipt of the working family payment. Will the Tánaiste commit to looking at those two measures and to bringing them in before October? This crisis is really going to hit people in the coming months and waiting until January to bring in measures is not going to be good enough for people.

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