Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil oibrithe agus teaghlaigh ag streachailt cheana féin le costais maireachtála. Déanann an chaint seo ar tharaifí dochar do ghnáth-theaghlaigh trí phraghsanna a ardú. Ní féidir leis an Rialtas seo oibrithe a thréigean. Tá na hoibrithe seo faoi bhrú cheana féin. Tá imní orthu agus iad ag cloisteáil faoi chogadh trádála sna nuachtáin.

Later today, we expect the President of the United States to announce a trade deal with Britain. This will be the first deal struck since the American Administration unveiled aggressive tariffs on its trading partners across the world, including here in the European Union. Those tariffs were latterly partially suspended to allow space for negotiations. We all know that it is through negotiations and cool heads that this issue will be resolved. This major change in US economic policy, particularly in the context of a trade deal with Britain, brings unique challenges here on the island of Ireland for cross-Border trade and our all-island economy. The Government needs to be alert and to act to ensure that post-Brexit gains and the progress made are protected so that the all-island economy can continue to grow and prosper.

The European Union is also set to launch its suite of countermeasures to the US tariffs today. We have warned that a tit-for-tat trade war between the United States and the European Union would not be in Ireland's interest. The ESRI and the Department of Finance have been clear that President Trump's tariffs are damaging and that countertariffs from the EU would make things worse through a hit to the public finances and to jobs and through pushing prices higher for Irish consumers. I hope the Tánaiste has made Ireland's unique position very clear in his discussions with his EU counterparts. We need an outcome that protects Irish jobs, livelihoods and the future of our economy and the all-island economy. As I said, that requires cool heads and calm negotiations. It also requires a willingness on both sides to have meaningful negotiations.

We know that nobody wins in a trade war but it is always ordinary workers and families who suffer the most. Although the Government would like to pretend otherwise, the tariff uncertainty is happening as working people are dealing with an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. Households are hit by soaring grocery prices and energy costs and record rents, and we saw yesterday how motorists are being fleeced by sharp increases in motor insurance. It is all going in one direction and that direction is up. To add insult to injury, just last week, the Government, in its wisdom, heaped more pressure on those families by increasing carbon tax, making it more expensive for those families to heat their homes and cook their food. It is madness in the context of a cost-of-living crisis. Ordinary people are already struggling and cannot afford a tit-for-tat tariff war. With all the pressure on households, what the Government has done is to rule out a cost-of-living package in the October budget. It appears the message from Government is that working people are on their own.

If that was not enough for working people to worry about, they heard from the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party that the prospect of countertariffs from the EU means that the Government may need to take difficult decisions. The Tánaiste talks about difficult decisions. Unfortunately, the Irish people are all too familiar with difficult decisions. They have seen them time and time again. Just last week, we saw the Government prioritised CEOs and political insiders on massive salaries while ordinary workers were asked to wait longer for pay increases to bring them to a living wage.

What assessment has the Tánaiste's Department done of the impact on prices and jobs from increasing tariffs and EU countermeasures? Can he assure the public that their interests and Ireland's interests will be reflected in the EU response to be announced today and that the all-Ireland economy will be protected? Does he accept that Irish people are living through a cost-of-living crisis and that certainty is needed that there will be a cost-of-living package in this year's budget?

See this speech in context