Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion from Sinn Féin. It is of paramount importance that we address the cost-of-living crisis with urgency and action. I fear that the gravity of the term "cost of living" is being lost on members of the Government. Perhaps the Society of St. Vincent de Paul captured it better when it talked of the cost of survival, which is experienced in people's homes every single day. If the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, believes this is hyperbole on my part, she should look to the Barnardos report which suggests that 30% of parents in the State are going without food. That is an extraordinary indictment of a country, a State and a Government that is clapping its hands that this is the fastest growing economy in the European Union. All the while, 30% of parents are going without food. This is an emergency but it does not appear to be treated like one.

More than one in ten people in the State is living below the poverty line, of whom almost 164,000 are under the age of 18, yet the Government does not blink an eye when we say our country is in crisis. Some 690,000 individuals are experiencing deprivation, 200,000 of whom are children, but we sit idly by while families are suffering. We talk of looking after the pennies, while people struggle to put food on the table. The lack of Government action is a slap in the face for those who struggle every day to make ends meet. The average rent in Dublin is now €2,300 for the average person. That is an impossible cost to incur, never mind for the hundreds of thousands of people who are literally living in poverty. The Minister has allowed this to happen, and when the more than justified criticism of what I can only describe as the inept Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage arrives on the Government's doorstep, Government members will all band together in solidarity in the face of the ineptitude shown by the State.

Living in Dublin is now out of reach for countless workers, resulting in chronic staff shortages across a range of professions, including teaching and in the healthcare sector, to name a few. Students are suffering. Patients are suffering. Everyone is suffering the failed policies of successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. Just over 1,000 homes were available to rent nationwide on 1 February, which is a 20% reduction on this time last year, yet the Government continues to lie through its teeth that everything is under control and it is all part of some greater plan. It is insulting.

The Housing for All targets are grossly inadequate, not to mention that they will inevitably be missed by quite a margin. The accelerated delivery of cost-rental homes is the only solution to this worsening crisis. This has been crystal clear for a long time but even that does not budge the Government. It would rather spite those struggling around the country by going down with the ship.

Before the Minister cites the Government's new vacant homes tax as some sort of titanic solution, everyone knows it is far too weak to act as a real disincentive to those sitting on empty homes. In our alternative budget for 2023, the Social Democrats called for this tax to be set at 10%, with a number of fair exemptions. This would send a clear message to those holding empty properties during a housing disaster to use it, rent it or sell it. We cannot separate the eviction ban from the cost-of-living crisis. The ban simply cannot end at the end of March. If it does, our already overrun homelessness services will be decimated. Those who are already in poverty will be pushed further into it. Hunger will become more extreme.

The list of mishandled directives goes on. The housing assistance payment, for example, is rapidly outgrowing its ability to tackle the housing crisis and does not make long-term economic sense. All the while, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage failed to spend €1 billion last year and watched as countless young people were forced to emigrate, families were forced into poverty and the number of homeless grew exponentially. There are now 11,600 people homeless, 3,500 of whom are children. The Government was aware of all of these facts but has not acted to date. This is simply unforgivable.

Sadly, housing is only one frontier of the emergency we find ourselves in. The motion highlights the many faces of the cost-of-living crisis. Food poverty is becoming widespread. Nearly 30% of parents are skipping meals just to feed their kids. Food banks are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing demand. Energy poverty has reached a record high and despite meagre initiatives designed to provide relief, families and small businesses continue to endure higher and higher costs that are crippling them. How do we tackle these debilitating conditions? In our alternative budget in September, the Social Democrats argued for the expansion of eligibility for the fuel allowance to recipients of the working family payment. We agree with Sinn Féin's motion that this change is needed now more than ever. While the proposal in the motion for a spring bonus for those relying on working age social welfare payments will be welcome and will put food on the table, it may fall short of the sea change needed to keep up with inflation. While every little helps, pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and Ione parents deserve a boost as much as, if not more, than anyone else in our society. Repeatedly paying out bonuses will not end this emergency. It keeps the wolf from the door for a couple of weeks and then there is a bang on the door again.

The Social Democrats believe in benchmarking social welfare rates to cover the cost of inflation instead of waiting until we reach a crisis such as the one now being experienced in homes the length and breadth of the country. We must move away from a style of politics that waits for people to undergo hardship, pain and strife before they are adequately supported by the State. We have an ongoing poverty problem that must not be ignored but has been ignored thus far by Government after Government. Countless children are going to school without a warm winter coat. They often have to go to bed hungry and the State is not treating them with compassion. It is simply acting as though they do not exist. According to the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, the qualified child increase, along with the working family payment, contribute most to poverty reduction. As I said earlier in this Chamber, if the Government is serious about combating child poverty, it must raise the qualified child increase by at least €10 for children over the age of 12 and by €5 for children under 12 years of age.

People who are fighting illness or have a disability and are unable to work because of it have the highest risk of poverty in Irish society. Nearly 20% of this group are experiencing poverty, which is a horrifying figure. There is an ongoing need for better assistance for these groups such as further investment in disability services and a substantial cost-of-disability payment, which is essential to reducing the likelihood of individuals falling into poverty. To tackle this crisis head on, our social protection system must be benchmarked to the minimum essential standard of living, MESL, to help those experiencing hardship. The MESL is a standard below which nobody should be expected to live. It allows an individual to live with dignity, meeting the person's needs at a minimum but acceptable level. In its pre-budget submission, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul noted there is a €49 gap between core social welfare rates and MESL rates, and those payments continue to trail by an unacceptable margin. It is devastating that we are so far off this mark. That must change.

Without a clear pathway to achieving these standards, the Government has condemned more and more individuals and families to poverty. Speaking in Brussels today about cost-of-living measures, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, stated: "It's important that whatever we do is affordable, that we manage taxpayers' money well, that we make decisions to get the best possible result from the use of public money." I put it to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, that the use of public money can be used to stop 30% of parents in families going without food. I can see no greater endeavour for the use of public money. That this does not seem to be treated with the urgency it deserves is absolutely shambolic.

This Government left €1 billion of taxpayers' money, that is, public money, in an account while people froze on the street this winter, families could not pay their heating bills and parents went without meals to feed their children. While this remains a reality for so many, how can anyone have faith in this Government's decisions that claim to have the people's best interests at heart? It is beyond comprehension. The Government's track record is disastrous. I commend Sinn Féin on bringing forward this motion, which we will support.

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