Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My constituency, Dublin North-West, has a varied socioeconomic demographic. Those areas of the constituency that are more economically disadvantaged are vulnerable at the moment to the escalating costs of energy and basic foodstuffs. People are justifiably fearful and anxious about their future. There has been a deluge of rising costs across the board, from increased mortgage rates and spiralling rents to rising energy bills and food becoming more expensive, all of which have made it very difficult for many households to keep their heads above water. People have seen a significant fall in their living standards as well.

Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that poorer households face an even higher effective inflation rate because they spend more of their incomes on essentials such as energy and basic goods. Pensioners are especially vulnerable and at risk. Better-off households can generally adapt more easily when faced with escalating costs of goods and services by changing their spending habits, spending less on non-essentials or reducing how much they put aside in savings each month. Many poorer households in my constituency are facing extreme hardship because they are unable to keep up with the rising energy prices and the rising cost of groceries. Such households are disproportionately affected by this crisis.

The measures the Government has taken so far to help struggling families have not been effective and have not kept pace with inflation or with the increases in energy and other costs. There needs to be an urgent response from the Government to alleviate the hardships of families who are facing this daily. Families are being forced to choose between heating their home or putting food on the table, decisions no family or individual should ever have to make. Proper supports from the Government are urgently needed. It had the opportunity to do this and to help struggling families in budget 2023 but failed to do so. It can now help these families by adopting our proposal for a spring bonus. This would help the vulnerable in our society, who are at greater risk during the cost-of-living crisis and who are most in need of supports. There are long-term consequences for many of these struggling families, not least with regard to their well-being and mental health, as they sink deeper and deeper into debt and arrears. The proposed spring bonus is a measure that would go some way to alleviating some of the pressures on struggling families and individuals and should be adopted by the Government if it is serious about helping vulnerable families during this cost-of-living crisis.

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