Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Workers and families continue to be fleeced by a cost-of-living crisis that is out of control. People’s finances are being pushed to the very bring. They are being hammered by sky-high energy bills, soaring food bills, runaway rents, mortgage interest rate hikes and a cost-of-living crisis that is hitting them from all sides. Almost a quarter of household gas customers found themselves in arrears in the first three months of this year. As energy credits run out, the number in electricity arrears is increasing again. Just so we are clear about the scale of what is happening, that means 160,399 domestic customers in gas arrears and 199,790 in domestic electricity arrears. It is an absolutely staggering situation. Yet, the Taoiseach opposes Sinn Féin's proposal to cut and cap rip-off energy bills. He also blocked our plan to provide mortgage relief to struggling homeowners. He refused our plans to cut rent and ban rent increases. Yet, households remain under huge pressure and the Government sits on its hands.

Tonight, Sinn Féin will bring forward a plan for real action on food and grocery bills. The Government should back this plan. As the Taoiseach knows, inflation in Irish supermarkets is at the highest level ever recorded and shoppers are set to see their annual grocery bills rise by €1,200. That is a very big sum and people’s incomes will just not stretch that far in many cases. Many people are going hungry. Pensioners are skipping meals. With the school holidays now fast approaching, some families do not know how they will feed their children this summer. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that this cannot continue.

Sinn Féin’s plan has essentially three elements. First, it would ensure savings made by supermarkets due to falling input costs are passed on to consumers by cutting grocery prices. Second, it would instruct the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, to investigate possible price gouging in the sector. Crucially, it would allow for an increase in social welfare and pension rates to protect people from food poverty. These measures would make a real difference in the here and now for people. The Government cannot expect people to wait five months until the budget for relief. Kicking the can down the road and turning a blind eye to the huge pressure people are under is not an option.

I am therefore asking that the Taoiseach takes action to shield households from this latest hit in the cost-of-living storm. Time and again, we have brought forward measures. Every time, the Taoiseach has turned his face against them. He has rejected every solution that has been offered up. Tá billí fuinnimh agus costais bia ardaithe do oibrithe agus do theaghlaigh. Tá ghéarchéim ann ó thaobh an costais maireachtála. Cad atá an Rialtas ag déanamh? Ní féidir le daoine fanacht cúig mhí don bhuiséad. Tá cabhair ag teastáil uathu anois.

There is an immediacy to all this, as I am sure the Taoiseach will agree. The Government must take sensible, targeted measures to give support to those who need it, because people are finding it difficult to stay afloat now and they need help now.

Will the Taoiseach back Sinn Féin's plan to cut food costs that will come before the House this evening? What else does the Government propose to do to help families weather the storm of this cost-of-living crisis? I make specific reference again to the hundreds of thousands of households that now find themselves in gas and electricity arrears.

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