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

The EUROSTAT report is entirely accurate. What I am saying is that it is half the story. Incomes, salaries and wages in Ireland are 30% to 40% higher than the European average. Of course, there is a correlation between that and higher prices. Countries with a very low cost of living in that report are Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and other countries where there is very low pay. Of course, the price of something in a restaurant or a shop will be lower if people there are paid €1.50 or €2 per hour. We need to look at these things in the round when looking at these reports and we need to analyse them properly, not simplistically as has been done in recent times.

We have acted. We acted in January with an increase in the minimum wage, reductions in income tax, increases in pension and welfare. We have acted effectively since then, with our emergency budget. We made cuts in excise on petrol and diesel, taken €200 off people's electricity bills, increased the fuel allowance and cut VAT on electricity and gas to 9%. Other measures will kick in throughout the summer, including the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance and the increase in the SUSI grant. We will come back in the autumn with more measures, of which some will take effect within weeks and others in January. This will be an ongoing cost-of-living crisis. It will not end quickly, unfortunately. That is why we need planned actions in the way that we propose.

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