Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

recognises that: — citizens are struggling with the rising cost of living and need action from the Government now;

— the Government cannot protect everyone from the full impact of every price increase, some of which are being driven by international factors beyond its control;

— the Government is now projected to take in €5.6 billion more in tax revenue this year than had been expected on Budget day;

— the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council have advised that there is scope for additional measures to support the cost of living; and

— the Government can and must do more to support workers and families, and should do so now;

condemns:

— the hardship, anxiety and desperation being felt by households across the country, as a direct result of the Government's refusal to introduce measures to support workers and families at this time; and

— the dismissive attitude of the Government party leaders towards calls from workers, families, stakeholder groups and representatives for measures to address the cost-of-living crisis now; commends the Cost of Living Coalition and the thousands of citizens who took to the streets to demand immediate measures from the Government to address the rising cost of living; and

calls for the immediate introduction of an emergency Budget, to introduce and extend further supports to workers and families to support them with the many high and rising costs they are now facing.

Tá oibrithe agus teaghlaigh amuigh ansin i ngéarchéim mar gheall ar an chostas maireachtála. Le míonna anuas, tá Sinn Féin ag iarraidh ar an Rialtas aghaidh a thabhairt ar na fadhbanna atá ag go leor teaghlach agus oibrithe ar fud an Stáit. Ach tá na héilimh sin ó Shinn Féin, ó ghrúpaí taobh amuigh den Teach, ó dhaoine, ó theaghlaigh, agus ó oibrithe ag titim ar chluasa bodhra an Rialtais seo mar go bhfuil sé ag rá go soiléir leis na daoine sin atá ag streachailt go mbeidh orthu fanacht. Níl sé seo maith go leor mar ní féidir le hoibrithe agus teaghlaigh atá thíos leis an gcostas maireachtála fanacht níos faide. Tá sé in am ag an Rialtas feidhmiú agus feidhmiú anois.

Workers and families are in the grips of a cost of living crisis. Last month inflation reached its highest levels for almost 40 years. Faced with rising energy bills, growing food costs and crippling rents many struggle to make it to the end of the week. A recent report by the ESRI found that one in three households live in energy poverty. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has seen calls for help skyrocket. The number of people going to food banks has tripled. Families who in the past made donations to charities are now approaching the very same charities for food parcels and for help, something they never imagined they would have to do. Others face the impossible choices of whether to turn off the heating or skip a meal. The time for action is not in four months' time, it is now. For months Sinn Féin has called on this Government to wake up to the hardship so many face and to respond to the emergency through an emergency budget providing immediate support to lower- and middle-income households. For months those calls have fallen on the deaf ears of a Government that has told struggling households to buckle up, brace themselves and that they are on their own, a Government that has told them that they need to wait. Workers and families cannot afford to wait and should not have to wait. We have had Ministers absolve themselves of responsibility and advised struggling families with fuel costs to head down to their local social welfare offices. It is simply unacceptable. Government has a moral responsibility to support households and to protect the most vulnerable during these times of hardship.

We in Sinn Féin recognise that not everybody can be fully insulated from every price increase we are seeing. However, the Government can and must do more. Even the Central Bank of Ireland, the State’s financial watchdog, has said there is scope to act to provide further support to struggling workers and families. We need an emergency budget before this Dáil breaks for the summer, one that helps workers and families weather the storm by introducing a cost of living cash payment to lower- and middle-income families and by increasing social welfare rates and pension payments in response to inflation. In the past year rising prices have fast outstripped welfare payments leaving the most vulnerable in our society exposed to the hardship of poverty and that is a disgrace. We need an emergency budget that increases the minimum wage and boosts the income of low-paid workers. The one-third of households which rely on home-heating oil has seen that price double in the past year without any relief. Despite the Government being able to cut the cost of a fill by more than €100 per tank, it has refused to do so. We need an emergency budget that will provide that relief by removing excise duty on home-heating oil. For motorists who have no other option but to use the car to travel to work, to visit sick relatives or to leave their children to school, we need an emergency budget that would cut petrol and diesel prices at the pump by the maximum amount possible. This can and should be done. As prices rise the State’s tax take from VAT also increases. Support for households is overdue. We need to give something back to these households now.

Every household faces a cost of living crisis differently. For those facing what is almost a second mortgage through childcare, the Government can and should cut childcare fees by one third this year. In regard to renters struggling to cope with crippling rent an emergency budget could and should put a month’s rent back into renters’ pockets through a refundable tax credit. Further rent increases should be banned. These measures are affordable. More importantly they are a commonsense solution to support struggling households.

It is time, therefore, for the Government to get its head out of the sand, to wake up, do its job and act to protect those on low and middle incomes, because workers and families cannot afford to wait any longer for this Government to get its act together.

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