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

Last night Sinn Féin brought forward a motion calling on the Government to introduce an emergency budget to ease the enormous pressure on struggling households. I impressed upon the Taoiseach yesterday - at least, I tried - how this crisis is worsening for so many. Last night, however, even though families throughout the country are at breaking point, Ministers stood up one after the other in this Chamber and opposed an emergency budget. I listened to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform's partner and political twin, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, on the radio this morning.

He says that he appreciates the challenge that households are facing. In the next breath he says that he is not going to do anything about it. Tonight, it seems, Ministers and Members of the Government benches will line up and vote against the introduction of measures to help families and workers. The message from Government to households on the brink is to strap yourselves in because you are on your own.

We have only three weeks left in the Dáil term and Government will then clock off for the summer. Its Members will then walk away telling people to wait for budget 2023. Why? Because it does not have a plan in the here and now.

Minister, October is too late for so many families. There are people watching in today who are literally only one bill and rent payment away from going over the edge and going under. These are people who work very long hours and cannot afford the basics. This is the hard reality of people’s lives. Despite everything that the Minister might say, clearly his Government does not get it. In fact, it is incredible to hear the Government congratulate itself over and over for having done so much when, clearly, so much more needs to be done.

Children, as the Minister knows, head back to school in late August and early September, not October. Those families face astronomical costs now. Energy companies are not going to give customers a break between now and October. Rip-off electricity bills will keep coming through the summer months. People go to fill their cars every week between now and October and, by the way, they are paying more than €2 a litre today. This is all happening now.

Asking people to wait until October for help is asking them to wait for disaster. An emergency budget is a sensible and necessary response at this time. Action to cut rents, emergency cash payments for low and middle income earners and increases in social welfare rates to protect the most vulnerable are reasonable and necessary measures and yet the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, tell us that they are not for turning. This demonstrates very dramatically the priorities of this Government as I suspect, as many others do, that if it was those at the top who needed a bailout, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would be in like a flash.

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