Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We addressed the cost-of-living issues last year in an unprecedented way and in a way no other government in Europe did, with respect to the scale of the intervention. There were a whole range of measures, double social protection payments and all of that. We spent €12 billion last year alone and we are going to take similar action this year in the form of interventions to protect people, and it is our view that living standards will improve in 2024. The Deputy needs to acknowledge, notwithstanding his different political ideology, which he is entitled to, that we have 2.64 million people working today. Our economy added nearly 90,000 jobs over the past year for a total of more than 500,000 since we entered Government in 2020. The share of people who have jobs is at a record high of 74% with unemployment at an exceptionally low rate of 4.2%. Youth unemployment is the lowest on record and among-----

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