Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The cost-of-living crisis has been felt most keenly by those on low to middle incomes. That is no surprise to anybody. A greater proportion of their earnings is devoted to the purchase of food, payment of rent and heating of their homes. In Limerick, we have seen rents spiral out of control and beyond the means of many. We need a ban on rent increases and we need the Government to put money back into renters' pockets through a refundable tax credit worth a month's rent. There is no emergency accommodation available in Limerick if someone unfortunately becomes homeless. The cost of renting a two-bed unit in Limerick has increased by 13.2% since the last quarter of 2020. There are often 100 people a day lingering on hospital trolleys in Limerick. The cost of living has put immense pressure on families, particularly those with children. I was told by a constituent recently that they no longer feel they are living but merely surviving. One must wonder how they will cope when the winter nights fall quickly, the cold sets in and they need to heat their homes. Those who are faced with stresses cannot wait for next year for any relief. The recent ESRI report on energy poverty and deprivation, to which the Minister referred, shows that one in three households in the country is in energy poverty. There must be a removal of excise on home heating oil. In Limerick, for instance, the average cost of 500 l is €769, an astronomical amount for any family to pay. We need an emergency budget to alleviate some of these pressures.

Factors outside the control of the Government have exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis, nobody doubts that, but there remains scope for the Government to do much more to protect citizens. The crisis is only going to get worse. Waiting until January is something many families simply cannot afford to do. The Government needs to wake up and realise the realities of this.

People are suffering now. There is scope for the introduction of an emergency budget. It is projected that the State will take in more tax revenue than we had expected on budget day. Much of this surplus must be used to support those suffering most in the crisis. Any such budget must, as a priority, increase working age social welfare rates. Inflation has spiralled to its highest level in four years and such a measure is vital to protect the most vulnerable members of our society. There is a need to introduce both temporary and permanent measures in such a budget. We need to assist families. One of the most important things we can do in this regard is immediately reduce childcare costs. Childcare costs are an albatross around the neck of working families and equivalent to a second mortgage for many of them. We need to provide more help with back-to-school costs in advance of the new term in September. The temporary measures will cost €175 million.

We are increasingly seeing workers returning to social welfare payments, such as the working family payment, to top up their weekly income. Sinn Féin would establish a living wage to prevent workers from being placed on poverty wages. We also want to see the Low Pay Commission transformed into a living wage commission to ensure the living wage is adequate to support workers with the cost of living.

I am calling for all Deputies to support this motion. Unless they bury their heads in the sand, they cannot but have seen the effects the cost-of-living crisis is having on our constituents.

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