Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I acknowledge the fact that the cost of living in Ireland is rising very fast. Indeed, this is the case all around the world. Governments are doing their best to deal with that but there is only so much any government can do. Obviously, people have seen big increases in the cost of petrol and diesel, utility bills, grocery bills and other bills as well. Everyone is feeling the squeeze, of course, but some people, particularly those on the lowest incomes, those with large families and those in rural areas, are feeling the pinch of that all the tighter. Sometimes, they have to make very difficult decisions on what to spend money.

The Government has acted already. If the Deputy compares what we have done in Ireland relative to what has been done in similar countries, we have done just as much if not more. As the Deputy knows, we had a budget package that kicked in in January with an increase in the minimum wage, reductions in income tax and increases in pension and welfare payments, including targeted payments such as the living alone allowance and fuel allowance. We effectively had a mini-budget or emergency budget already, with €1.4 billion in measures since the budget, including reducing excise on petrol and diesel, reducing VAT on electricity and gas, the €200 discount on people's electricity bill and a further fuel allowance payment. That is just to give a few examples of what has being done since the budget.

Of course, other measures will take effect before the budget in the autumn. As the Deputy knows, the school clothing and footwear allowance will be available for those who are eligible for it. We increased the funding for that significantly in recent years. For those attending third level institutions, the increase in the SUSI grant will take effect alongside the fact more people will become eligible for it. Those measures were announced in the budget but they will actually take effect over the course of the summer in terms of people going back to school and college.

Obviously, facing a big bill can often be the toughest thing for people. People might be getting by week by week, but obviously, a big bill arriving can be a big difficulty for a family. They might be getting by week to week but that big bill, whether it is for car repairs or back-to-school costs, can hit people very hard. As I said, much has been done already with €2.4 billion for families to help them with the cost of living. There is more planned in the autumn in and around the budget. We want a set of actions that will take effect almost immediately in the days and weeks after budget day to help people through the winter in particular. A series of more regular moves will take effect then in January. That is the plan on which we are doing much work at the moment. As I said, the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance will become available over the course of the summer as well as the improvements in the SUSI grant for those attending third level institutions.

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