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

Under the current Government, and indeed the previous one I led, living standards rose and poverty rates went down. This is a simple fact that the Deputy can check if he chooses to do so. In most years since 2014, we have seen incomes or wages rising faster than inflation, or faster than increases in the cost of living, and as a result we have seen incomes and living standards rise and poverty rates fall. This may not be the case every single year for every single data point, but the general trend since 2014 has seen falling poverty, rising living standards and wages rising faster than the cost of living.

Yes, there was a significant setback last year. We know why that happened. It happened because of the invasion of Ukraine and an international inflation crisis, which we had to deal with. The Government took numerous measures to help people with the cost of living, and I will not go through them today. They were taken before the budget, at the time of the budget and since the budget. They are being taken even this week. This week, people in receipt of pensions and weekly social welfare payments will receive the bonus payment of €200 per month to help them with the cost of living. All families with children under 18 will receive a child payment in June. The supports we are providing to people to help them with the cost of living will continue throughout the summer, and, of course, there will be a budget in the autumn.

There will be a windfall tax. The Deputy will know from the legislative programme published by the Chief Whip only yesterday, or last week perhaps, that it is on for this session. We will raise the windfall tax, and that will yield money we can use to help businesses and families with the high cost of energy. Also, we have taken a special dividend from the ESB. The ESB made extraordinary profits because of the increase in the price of gas in the wholesale markets. The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, worked together to make sure the ESB would pay a special dividend. That, again, is money we can use to help people and businesses with the high cost of energy.

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