Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá teaghlaigh ar fud an Stáit i lár ghéarchéim chostas maireachtála. Tá siad ag streachailt cheana féin agus ag tabhairt aghaidh anois ar chostais fhilleadh na scoile agus muid ag bogadh isteach sa samhradh. Anuraidh, chuaigh go leor teaghlach isteach i bhfiach leis na costais seo a íoc, agus i mbliana, beidh na costais seo ag brú go leor teaghlach thar an imeall. Tá tacaíocht de dhíth ar na teaghlaigh seo anois.

Throughout the State, families are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Many parents find themselves under serious financial pressure. Times are very tough for parents whose number one priority is their children. I have said before that the cost-of-living crisis is happening right here, right now. Workers and families cannot afford to wait any longer. There is a serious concern that, faced with a cost-of-living crisis, families will face real difficulty in meeting back-to-school costs. Many parents are viewing their child returning to school in August with a sense of dread. They are sensing that because of high costs at a time when they are already being put to the pins of their collars. Schoolbook lists began to arrive last week and this week in many households across the State. No parent should dread their child's return to school but that is what is happening in so many households.

My party's education spokesperson, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, spoke to a mother from Cork who faces back-to-school costs of €1,700. She is, in her own words, terrified as to how she can make ends meet. Last year, a back-to-school survey was carried out by the Irish League of Credit Unions, which found that parents were spending €1,500 per child returning to secondary school and €1,200 per child returning to primary school. One quarter of these families were going into debt to cover these costs. That means using their credit cards, taking out loans and even going to the local moneylender just to send their kids to school. This year, in a cost-of-living crisis where bills and prices have continued to spiral, many parents are stressed and really anxious. A child's education should be a cherished right, but for so many, the price of education is a cause of concern and anxiety. That is simply wrong.

This week, we heard from staff at Barnardos who described families buying their children pyjamas to wear in the daytime because it was the cheapest option. It was the only option they could afford. For a Republic that was meant to be established on the basis of cherishing all the children of the nation equally, this is the grim reality of Ireland today.

Last night, the Government voted against Sinn Féin's motion to introduce an emergency budget that would lift the pressures off families in the here and now, including measures to support them in meeting back-to-school costs. Given the Government's vote against Sinn Féin's motion last night, the Tánaiste's message to struggling workers and families is clear: the Government will not provide further support to them now or over the summer months. The message is simply clear that they are on their own during this time.

What will the Tánaiste say to that terrified mother in Cork who faces school costs of €1,700 and does not know how she will make ends meet? What will he say to her given the Government's stance that it will have no further interventions until budget time? What will he say to the tens of thousands of other mothers and fathers in exactly the same position, worried about how they will meet the costs of their children going back to education as the school bills roll in this week like they did last week?

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