John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Households across the State cannot wait until the year end for the Government to act when they are struggling in the here and now. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and the Central Bank of Ireland have all stated that the Government has the scope to introduce additional measures to support households. The Government is now expected to run a surplus of €1.6 billion this year, taking in more in tax than is going out in expenditure. Therefore, the money is there to act and the Government must act. Action can and should be taken immediately to provide support for those facing the cost-of-living crisis.

A recent national survey commissioned by Barnardos revealed that almost two-thirds, some 63%, of people and their children who participated had to go without essentials such as heat, electricity, food and clothing during the last six months due to the cost-of-living crisis. More than one-quarter of parents have had to cut back or have gone without heat and almost one in four have cut back or gone without electricity. A report from EUROSTAT showed that "overall prices are 40% higher [in Ireland] compared with the average in the EU" and that "Combined housing costs such as rents, mortgage rates, gas and electricity, are again the most expensive" here, at 89% above the EU average, while healthcare costs "are the most expensive in the EU, at a staggering 72% above the [EU] average".

This is Ireland in 2022. This is Ireland under the watch of this Minister of State and this Government. Two weeks' ago, in my constituency of Wicklow, a constituent of mine collapsed and was rushed into hospital. The man, who has cancer, was told by the doctors that he was suffering from malnutrition due to his inability to afford to put food on the table and that that was why he collapsed. This is Ireland in 2022. This is Ireland under the watch of the Minister of State. The man I spoke of, and the many thousands like him in Wicklow and right across the State, cannot afford to sit by in the hope that the Minister of State and the Government might do something later on-----

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