Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I want to acknowledge at the outset, because it is true, that people in this country are still finding the cost of living a very significant issue. I know that, the Deputy knows that and there is not a TD in Dáil Éireann who is not aware of that in their own community and from their own constituency work. I want to be clear the Government is taking action in the here and now in a variety of areas. It is not a question of the Government saying people have to wait until the budget for supports. The Government is taking action this month that will have an effect on people in a range of areas.

I will give a few examples. This month 114,000 carers will receive the highest carer's support grant ever, and rightly so. Next month, we will see income levels for the carer's allowance increase so many more people will qualify for financial support. Over the summer months, the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance will be paid out. In September, there will be a significant increase in the number of people who qualify for the fuel allowance, allowing more people who are worried about heating bills, particularly in the run-up to winter, to qualify for that allowance for the first time ever. This month and again later this year, public sector pay will increase, including for the lowest paid workers in the public service, benefitting around 300,000 people. Anybody with a child starting secondary school in September will see the free schoolbooks scheme that has been a real success at primary school extend to secondary school. The Deputy talked about the cost of food. He will see for the first time the roll-out of the summer version of the hot school meals, what we are calling a summer meals programme. Women going into the pharmacy to access HRT see that it has been made free in the last number of weeks. Student grant payments will increase from September and childcare costs have fallen this year.

When the Government came into office, we decided to extend the reduced VAT rate on gas electricity for exactly the reasons the Deputy mentioned, which is that if we had not done so, we would have had the VAT rate at 13.5%. We thought that was wrong so we took the decision to make that 9%. In recent weeks, we brought about a reduction in levy, which is called the renewable electricity public service obligation. That will give people an approximately 40% reduction in the levy and save them a few bob on their electricity bills.

The Government is taking action on the cost of living and I do not think it is right or proper to get into a branding exercise about whether there will be a cost-of-living "package". There will be measures to help people in the budget with the cost of living, absolutely. Read our programme for Government and read what we want to do on childcare and for small businesses. Read what we intend to do for carers and how we intend to support farmers. Expect to see progress in this budget and the next number of budgets as we seek to fulfil that.

I push back very strongly against the narrative that anyone in government is saying we should sit back and wait many months. I have given more than ten examples of where we are already helping people with the cost of living. We want to build on that.

We can all say inflation is falling and that is true. We have been through a big inflationary crisis, probably the biggest since the 1970s, but I accept there is a significant time lag in many areas between inflation falling and citizens seeing any benefit in their bills.

The Deputy referenced groceries. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to expand the powers of the CCPC. That should happen. We have seen recent examples of it taking action to protect consumers. We need to see how we can strengthen its powers further.

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