Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not think that will be any comfort to that mother from Cork or, indeed, all the other families who face a summer of dread. As the Tánaiste acknowledged, they are already dealing with petrol, diesel, home heating oil, energy, food and clothing costs skyrocketing and going in the wrong direction. Now, as kids finish up their school year, the bills are starting to roll in. It is €1,500 per child going to secondary school and €1,200 per child going to primary school. There are no additional interventions from Government.

The Tánaiste spoke about what the Government might do in the budget. These bills need to be met in the here and now. These school bills need to be dealt with. The kids are going back to school at the end of August. The Tánaiste, along with his Government colleagues, decided that he will make no further interventions over the next number of months for these families and tens of thousands of families like them who are struggling right here, right now. They do not know where they will get the money to pay for basic things like schoolbooks for their children or a school uniform to put on their kid's back come August. I plead to the Tánaiste on behalf of these individuals and many more like them that the Government needs to change tack and bring forward an emergency budget. It needs to reverse the decision it made and see that the cost-of-living crisis is happening right here, right now. The Tánaiste has an obligation and a moral responsibility to support these families at this time.

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