Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank most sincerely Deputy Doherty and Sinn Féin for tabling this very important motion. The cost-of-living crisis is affecting people in Ireland in a profound way, especially in rural areas and among farmers. This crisis is characterised by a sharp increase in the cost of basic necessities, such as housing, food and healthcare, while wages remain stagnant. This has left many people struggling to make ends meet and is having a severe impact on the well-being of rural residents and farmers. In Ireland the cost of energy, housing and now food has been a major contributory factor to the cost of living. This is especially true in rural areas, where there is limited access to public transportation and where people often have to rely on private cars to get to and from their places of work and on oil for home central heating systems. The high cost of renting and increased mortgage interest rates are making it more and more difficult for people to afford the cost of housing and are contributing to the growing number of homeless people.

There is absolutely no doubt but that it is ironic to hear Deputies tonight talk about this and say more should be done while, at the same time, many of those Deputies, including those in the Green Party, are pursuing a policy of putting more and more costs on top of people. We hear people say, whatever they do, not to light cosy fires, in other words, if you have access to turf or timber not to light a fire to warm yourself, whether you are old or elderly or whether it is your way of life and how you want to keep yourself warm. People are told they should not do that and that they should go cold. I am privileged to represent the people in my constituency. I will tell them to light their fires, to do what they need to do to keep themselves warm and to take no notice of what a person up here in a suit tells them to do.

It is a disgrace if the 9% VAT rate is not going to be kept to allow the hospitality sector to continue giving a proper service to the people.

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