Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy O'Connor on one thing. The Government did not get things right. With its record on housing, health and childcare, it has got them completely wrong. Another Deputy a few minutes ago talked about uncertainty. I will tell both Deputies about uncertainty. Sinn Féin Deputies know low and middle-income families as well. The Government does not have not a monopoly on these kinds of people. We know them. They come to our offices as well. They cannot afford to put food on the table. They are sleeping in cars, under the Government's watch. Fine Gael has been in power since 2011 and Fianna Fáil since 2016, whether it likes it or not, with the confidence and supply agreement. It is now two years in government. Do not start preaching to us on this side of the House and telling us we have not put forward solutions. We have brought forward solutions but the Government refuses to take them on board. When suggestions are made by Deputies on this side of the House it rejects them, week after week. That is the only thing the Government has done on a continuous basis and it is not working. Look at the figures and the way homelessness has gone up. People cannot pay rent. Families with two jobs cannot pay rent. They are struggling with childcare, which is another mortgage. Please do not start preaching to us over here that we do not know what is going on. We have these people coming to our doors and into our offices as well.

The consumer price index published this morning confirmed that the annual rate of inflation was 9.1% up to June, the largest increase in 38 years, when an annual inflation rate of 9.7% was recorded in the second quarter of 1984. When those figures are broken down, the largest increases were recorded in the costs of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which rose by 22.5%, and in transport, which rose by 20.4%. Looking even further into those figures, we can see where people need particular help. The cost of electricity, influenced by the headline figures I have just referred to, has risen by 40.9%. The cost of gas has soared by 57.2%, while the cost of home heating oil has skyrocketed by an astonishing 115.4%. The pressure on households and businesses across this country is immense and it is hitting poor, rural and lone parent families the hardest. Carers and families who have to run electricity-hungry medical equipment for their ill or disabled family members have always been left behind by the Government. That tradition has unfortunately not been addressed either.

I have spoken to the Minister of State about this and I have represented a number of these families since being elected to this House. They feel forgotten about. They get up early in the morning as well. Deputy Carroll MacNeill and the Tánaiste keep talking about people who get up early in the morning. These are people who get up early in the morning as well to go to work and they are still struggling under this Government's watch. It is a sad fact that as we speak one in three households lives in energy poverty. This significant portion of society is struggling to make ends meet. While the Government claims to have introduced over €2 billion worth of measures to support households since budget 2021, this misrepresents the level of support these lower income households have actually experienced.

The €500 million social welfare package last October saw social welfare rates rise by 2.5%, which as the Minister of State is aware, is far below the rate of inflation. In real terms, the most vulnerable, who are in receipt of those payments, have experienced a cut to their incomes. The bulk of the €500 million tax package last October went to just 20% of income earners. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council stated that 90% of the measures this year, such as electricity credits, were untargeted. The public deserves more detail in the summer economic statement about where assistance will be provided for families. It leaves them in a state of limbo and uncertainty. The public deserves an emergency budget to deal with the immediate need low and middle-income families are experiencing. The Government refused that too. Many families do not have entitlements because of income limits, yet they are struggling with the cost of rent, childcare and keeping their homes warm.

Sinn Féin called for an emergency budget with sensible measures designed to support lower- and middle-income households. This included increasing working age social welfare rates and pension payments in response to inflation and introducing cost-of-living payments of €200 and €100 to low- and middle-income workers. The Government turned that down. While the Government refused to introduce an emergency budget to implement these measures, Sinn Féin was clearly successful in putting pressure on the Government to go in directions it did not plan to, such as introducing the recently announced increase in the back-to-school allowance and bringing forward the budget by two weeks, but its response remains too slow. Inflation is ploughing ahead but the Government is not acting to keep up with the drastic changes in people's lives.

The focus of budget 2023 must be to support workers and families in the face of the cost-of-living crisis and to tackle problems that have persisted and worsened under this Government. Housing, healthcare, childcare and education are just a few issues. The situation is dire, whether the Government likes it or not. The budgetary strategy outlined by the Government appears to be incapable of delivering on any of those priorities.

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