Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The minimum essential standard of living report was published today and it is pretty damning. It shows that social welfare is lagging behind basic needs. In more than three quarters of the cases at which the report looked, people had an inadequate income. In 43% of cases, people had a deeply inadequate income. It found that the costs of a minimum essential standard of living, that is, the very basics one needs to have the basics of a decent life, have gone up by nearly 17% since 2020. Food has gone up by more than 20% and energy costs are up by more than 60%. The costs of babies has gone up the most; the price of baby formula is up 37% and the price of nappies has nearly doubled over that period of time.

The report states that the small increases the Government has introduced in social welfare, including the one-off payments, have not compensated for that. They have not meant people have kept step with achieving a minimum essential standard of living. It found a two-parent family with two kids, one of whom is in primary school and the other in secondary school, is being left €96 per week short of a minimum essential standard of living. This is a political choice. We have a €65 billion surplus. Will the Taoiseach make a different political choice in the coming budget to say that no one will be left below the minimum needed for a basic, decent quality of life?

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