Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

After two years in Government together and a number of years of close co-operation beforehand, one would imagine the Government would be able to coalesce properly together. However, its stance on the cost-of-living issues demonstrates it is not fit to govern, with the leaders of the three parties last week jostling for position on what action would be taken, if any, and when.

This lack of decisiveness is costing ordinary families and communities dearly and nowhere more so than in Killarney, Listowel, Tralee and around County Kerry. The county is already disadvantaged by peripherality as it has three peninsulas, work that is both precarious and seasonal, and services that are farther away than those in nearly all other counties. A dire choice is faced by many, that is, either work and lose money or stay at home and face a future that is just as uncertain.

It goes without saying living standards are under threat, but basic security and physical and mental well-being are of the utmost concern. Even when people fall through the social safety net, there is less there, or nothing, to catch them. Emergency accommodation in Kerry is now effectively full. I ask the Minister of State and the Government to act urgently and introduce an emergency budget.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic are cited by the Government as reasons for the increases in everyday prices. The Russian invasion was even mentioned by the Taoiseach as causing all the increased anxiety in the country. However, this Government and previous Governments cannot escape their own culpability. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil policies over the past ten years, going back to the financial crisis and the economic policies pursued since, have led to this. They ceased to build social housing and outsourced it to private landlords, abolished the town councils and introduced direct provision. Look how much the outsourcing of direct provision has cost over the years, with nothing now to show for it. There are six to one room in the new accommodation in Killarney. With no public control over investment or capital, the private sector has run rampant and is looking for a return on areas such as homes and housing. This has been encouraged by the Government, and while it is a bed the Government has made, it is the ordinary people who are forced to lie in it.

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