Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have three boxing champions in the Public Gallery whom I wish to welcome and acknowledge. Amy Broadhurst is the International Boxing Association, IBA, light welterweight champion of the world, Dearbhla Tinnelly is the youth light heavyweight European champion and Evelyn Igharo is the current Irish elite champion at 70 kg. They are joined by coach Jim O'Neill from the Clann Naofa boxing club in Muirhevnamore in Dundalk. These women are trailblazers. They were around the House. Members met them and we were all a bit star-struck. Well done and keep at it. I also see some of the Muslim Sisters of Éire here. They are also most welcome. I thank the Ceann Comhairle.

There are just three weeks left in this Dáil term, three weeks for the Government to see sense and introduce an emergency budget to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. If the Government does not intervene now, many households will be pushed over the edge because they are on the brink today. They simply cannot wait for October for budget 2023. The crisis is getting worse, as the Taoiseach knows. Yesterday, the Central Bank of Ireland reported that one third of families are just making ends meet. This is up from one quarter of families in January. The supermarket analyst company, Kantar, has stated that the sharp increases could add €453 to the average annual grocery bill. Again, this is a jump of €100 on the company's estimate from last month.

Workers and families, as the Taoiseach knows, are finding it increasingly difficult just to afford the basics and are struggling to put a roof over their heads, food on the table, fuel in the car and clothes on their kids' backs. Esther Pugh is the manager of the Barnardos centre in Loughlinstown. What she told the media yesterday encapsulates the situation. She said:

... we would have children coming into the service wearing their pyjamas for day clothes, and specifically bought to be day clothes... The big worry is electricity running out - families don't have money to run their washing machine and tumble dryers.

[...]

I have worked in Barnardos for a long number of years and what I am seeing now is the kind of deprivation we would have seen back in the '80s. It is bad - there is no point saying otherwise.

These are heartbreaking words, as I am sure the Taoiseach will agree, and they capture everyday life for so many families now. We are now at a point where having a full-time job is not a guaranteed protection against the sharp edge of this crisis. Some households with two incomes are really struggling, so what hope and what chance do those on low pay have? We know that international factors are at play. We accept that. We also know, however, that this cost-of-living crisis is a catastrophe for our society. I have been contacted by parents who are worried that they are raising their children now for emigration.

I have been contacted by young people who do not want to leave but have their bags packed for Canada and Australia. They say they cannot afford a life at home. That is the terrible vista again of forced emigration looming for us.

Tá teaghlaigh i ndeireadh na feide. Anocht, iarrfaidh rún Shinn Féin ar an Rialtas buiséad éigeandála a thabhairt isteach. Ní féidir le hoibrithe agus teaghlaigh fanacht ar bhuiséad 2023. Tá daoine ag streachailt. Teastaíonn tacaíocht uathu anois. Tonight, Sinn Féin will bring a motion to the Dáil that will call on the Government to introduce an emergency budget to deliver and extend cost-of-living supports for workers and families. We should not have to bring this motion but the Government has buried its head on what is a state of emergency for households. I call on every Deputy to support this motion. I want all of us to work together to ensure that people get the relief they need so badly and as a matter of urgency. The truth is the Government cannot clock off in three weeks' time and leave families fighting to stay afloat. That would be wholly wrong. We need an emergency budget and the workers and families of Ireland need it now.

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