Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

recognises that: — citizens are struggling with the rising cost of living and need action from the Government now;

— the Government cannot protect everyone from the full impact of every price increase, some of which are being driven by international factors beyond its control;

— the Government is now projected to take in €5.6 billion more in tax revenue this year than had been expected on Budget day;

— the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council have advised that there is scope for additional measures to support the cost of living; and

— the Government can and must do more to support workers and families, and should do so now;

condemns:

— the hardship, anxiety and desperation being felt by households across the country, as a direct result of the Government's refusal to introduce measures to support workers and families at this time; and

— the dismissive attitude of the Government party leaders towards calls from workers, families, stakeholder groups and representatives for measures to address the cost-of-living crisis now; commends the Cost of Living Coalition and the thousands of citizens who took to the streets to demand immediate measures from the Government to address the rising cost of living; and

calls for the immediate introduction of an emergency Budget, to introduce and extend further supports to workers and families to support them with the many high and rising costs they are now facing.

Tá oibrithe agus teaghlaigh amuigh ansin i ngéarchéim mar gheall ar an chostas maireachtála. Le míonna anuas, tá Sinn Féin ag iarraidh ar an Rialtas aghaidh a thabhairt ar na fadhbanna atá ag go leor teaghlach agus oibrithe ar fud an Stáit. Ach tá na héilimh sin ó Shinn Féin, ó ghrúpaí taobh amuigh den Teach, ó dhaoine, ó theaghlaigh, agus ó oibrithe ag titim ar chluasa bodhra an Rialtais seo mar go bhfuil sé ag rá go soiléir leis na daoine sin atá ag streachailt go mbeidh orthu fanacht. Níl sé seo maith go leor mar ní féidir le hoibrithe agus teaghlaigh atá thíos leis an gcostas maireachtála fanacht níos faide. Tá sé in am ag an Rialtas feidhmiú agus feidhmiú anois.

Workers and families are in the grips of a cost of living crisis. Last month inflation reached its highest levels for almost 40 years. Faced with rising energy bills, growing food costs and crippling rents many struggle to make it to the end of the week. A recent report by the ESRI found that one in three households live in energy poverty. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has seen calls for help skyrocket. The number of people going to food banks has tripled. Families who in the past made donations to charities are now approaching the very same charities for food parcels and for help, something they never imagined they would have to do. Others face the impossible choices of whether to turn off the heating or skip a meal. The time for action is not in four months' time, it is now. For months Sinn Féin has called on this Government to wake up to the hardship so many face and to respond to the emergency through an emergency budget providing immediate support to lower- and middle-income households. For months those calls have fallen on the deaf ears of a Government that has told struggling households to buckle up, brace themselves and that they are on their own, a Government that has told them that they need to wait. Workers and families cannot afford to wait and should not have to wait. We have had Ministers absolve themselves of responsibility and advised struggling families with fuel costs to head down to their local social welfare offices. It is simply unacceptable. Government has a moral responsibility to support households and to protect the most vulnerable during these times of hardship.

We in Sinn Féin recognise that not everybody can be fully insulated from every price increase we are seeing. However, the Government can and must do more. Even the Central Bank of Ireland, the State’s financial watchdog, has said there is scope to act to provide further support to struggling workers and families. We need an emergency budget before this Dáil breaks for the summer, one that helps workers and families weather the storm by introducing a cost of living cash payment to lower- and middle-income families and by increasing social welfare rates and pension payments in response to inflation. In the past year rising prices have fast outstripped welfare payments leaving the most vulnerable in our society exposed to the hardship of poverty and that is a disgrace. We need an emergency budget that increases the minimum wage and boosts the income of low-paid workers. The one-third of households which rely on home-heating oil has seen that price double in the past year without any relief. Despite the Government being able to cut the cost of a fill by more than €100 per tank, it has refused to do so. We need an emergency budget that will provide that relief by removing excise duty on home-heating oil. For motorists who have no other option but to use the car to travel to work, to visit sick relatives or to leave their children to school, we need an emergency budget that would cut petrol and diesel prices at the pump by the maximum amount possible. This can and should be done. As prices rise the State’s tax take from VAT also increases. Support for households is overdue. We need to give something back to these households now.

Every household faces a cost of living crisis differently. For those facing what is almost a second mortgage through childcare, the Government can and should cut childcare fees by one third this year. In regard to renters struggling to cope with crippling rent an emergency budget could and should put a month’s rent back into renters’ pockets through a refundable tax credit. Further rent increases should be banned. These measures are affordable. More importantly they are a commonsense solution to support struggling households.

It is time, therefore, for the Government to get its head out of the sand, to wake up, do its job and act to protect those on low and middle incomes, because workers and families cannot afford to wait any longer for this Government to get its act together.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Forty years ago we were experiencing double-digit inflation and the Taoiseach of the time addressed the nation and said we were living beyond our means and needed to tighten our belts. Those words are not far from the words of this Government, as it tells people they must wait. They must just wait another few months before the Government can help any more, but the people cannot wait. The belt cannot be tightened any further by the worker in the west who is struggling to make the trip to his badly needed job because he cannot pay the cost of going there five days a week, or the young couple who were spending most of their wages on rent even before this crisis and now wonder how in the name of God they will ever get married or have children. Then there is the elderly woman who stays in one room all day long so she only has to heat it and goes to bed earlier so she can save on oil. The reality is there are no other options left for these people. They have done all they can. We cannot be some ivory tower that pays lip service to the struggles and needs of the people but fails to act. Every single one of us in this Chamber holds clinics. We know the stark realities people are facing and we need to do everything we can to help.

Insím leis an Aire Stáit gur léir go bhfuil brú aisteach ar theaghlaigh faoi láthair. Tá orthu rogha a dhéanamh idir a gcuid billí a íoc nó bia a cheannach. Ní thuigim, a bheag nó a mhór, an fáth a bhfuil an Rialtas ag rá le daoine fanacht roinnt míonna eile go dtí gur féidir leis an Rialtas cabhrú leo.

Week after week, I have heard the Taoiseach raise Putin's war on Ukraine when questioned about the cost of living crisis. I and others beside me understand the war is fuelling the inflation crisis. We get that. We get that there are external factors that are way beyond the control of this Government, but the Minister of State needs to understand that when families literally cannot put food on their tables, we need to do something. We understand the Government cannot control the price of commodities. We understand it cannot control what happens in a war zone. However, it can control what happens here. It can change the rate of excise duty. It can increase cost-of-living payments. It can put a month's rent back into renters' pockets. This Dáil and this Government are not some everyday onlooker. Deputy Fleming is a Minister of State. He and his Government have power. They can act on what we have put forward in this motion and we need them to act on this. We keep hearing from this Government that it cannot do everything. We are not asking it to do everything but we are asking it to put forward the suggestions we have in the motion this evening. They are easily implemented measures that would help those who need it most.

We have often heard, and often heard it from this Government, that politics is about choices. The Government is choosing to close its eyes to these measures. This should not be about party politics. This should be about doing what is best for the people. We have decent measures here so we should work together and implement them. I do not need to tell the Minister of State what he already knows, namely, that the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and the Central Bank have all said the Government has scope to introduce additional measures to support households. Indeed, IFAC and the OECD have said the Government's measures have not been targeted. The Government calls us populist all the time. Would the Minister of State call those bodies populist too? If it is populist to point out that public finances have ample fiscal space for these measures then I guess the ESRI, the Central Bank and IFAC are populists. If it is populist to point out the weakest in our society are the ones who are suffering most, then almost every community group and NGO in this State are populists. If it is populist to want to protect people from this crisis and govern in a responsible way, then I guess every party not in government is populist. What the Government calls populist, therefore, is what I call living in the real world.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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After two years in Government together and a number of years of close co-operation beforehand, one would imagine the Government would be able to coalesce properly together. However, its stance on the cost-of-living issues demonstrates it is not fit to govern, with the leaders of the three parties last week jostling for position on what action would be taken, if any, and when.

This lack of decisiveness is costing ordinary families and communities dearly and nowhere more so than in Killarney, Listowel, Tralee and around County Kerry. The county is already disadvantaged by peripherality as it has three peninsulas, work that is both precarious and seasonal, and services that are farther away than those in nearly all other counties. A dire choice is faced by many, that is, either work and lose money or stay at home and face a future that is just as uncertain.

It goes without saying living standards are under threat, but basic security and physical and mental well-being are of the utmost concern. Even when people fall through the social safety net, there is less there, or nothing, to catch them. Emergency accommodation in Kerry is now effectively full. I ask the Minister of State and the Government to act urgently and introduce an emergency budget.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic are cited by the Government as reasons for the increases in everyday prices. The Russian invasion was even mentioned by the Taoiseach as causing all the increased anxiety in the country. However, this Government and previous Governments cannot escape their own culpability. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil policies over the past ten years, going back to the financial crisis and the economic policies pursued since, have led to this. They ceased to build social housing and outsourced it to private landlords, abolished the town councils and introduced direct provision. Look how much the outsourcing of direct provision has cost over the years, with nothing now to show for it. There are six to one room in the new accommodation in Killarney. With no public control over investment or capital, the private sector has run rampant and is looking for a return on areas such as homes and housing. This has been encouraged by the Government, and while it is a bed the Government has made, it is the ordinary people who are forced to lie in it.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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Sinn Féin has repeatedly brought forward sensible and costed proposals to help protect those under pressure from the rising cost of living. People throughout the country are watching this and they are watching the intransigence of the Government. It is almost wearing it as a badge of honour that it is going to hold out until October. Even some of the Government Teachtaí Dála know what people are going through and they do not agree with this. The eyes of the country are on the Government and they are on the Teachtaí in their constituencies to see what they are going to do when these proposals are put forward. These are fully costed and sensible measures that will make a real difference in people's lives and they need to be taken. Even the Tory government has had three emergency budgets, I think, in the past year and it is looking to a fourth one, yet the coalition here cannot do that.

Supporting those most exposed to price increases is right and fair. It is also economically prudent to protect people from inflation, as otherwise we see the damage to our domestic economy. When people have no money left after half filling the tank, ordering the heating oil or even going grocery shopping, then workers and families suffer, but so does the wider economy. The modified domestic demand, which is a better measure of domestic conditions than GDP, contracted by 1% year on year. The Government almost seems to be embracing a recession and embracing the fact people are now paying household bills with credit cards. They will pay huge amounts of interest on those credit cards in the next few months, so it is accumulating all the time. All of this should be a warning that inflation is hitting the domestic economy. We need a sensible approach to managing inflation. We need to protect low- and middle-income workers and households from the worst impacts of price rises, guard against the domestic demand destruction, and protect the economy and jobs.

The Minister of State would have something to say if we did not have the money but we have it. We have €5.6 billion more in tax revenue this year than has been expected. What we are missing is the political will. Inaction and indecision is just not washing with people. The Minister of State knows that and the Government knows that. People know the Government is not listening. It is saying hold out and it will make a big announcement in October. The suffering and the pressure people are under and will be under from now until October and beyond is too much for them to bear. Inaction and indecision in the face of inflation is the same as the harsh cuts that were seen during austerity. Deputy Doherty put it very well on MidWest Radio today. He said it is like telling the child or the family we know you are hungry today but you will be hungrier next week and we will do something about it then. We will come along to the rescue then. I tell the Minister of State this is wrong. It is wrong on so many levels. The Government needs to rethink this and it really needs to support these sensible measures to show people it cares.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is clear to everyone except those in government that a significant number of people are suffering right now due to the cost-of-living crisis. Inflation is at its highest in four decades and we are hearing stories from Barnardos and other organisations that this level of deprivation and poverty has not been seen since the 1980s. This means real hunger, not being able to use electricity due to its high cost, and workers not being able to afford to fill their cars to get to work. In winter, it will mean families going hungry and sitting in the cold. As we head towards September, families will face extreme hardship in trying to get their children back to school. They have no idea how they will pay for uniforms, shoes, winter coats, books and school supplies.

While Sinn Féin recognises that international events have contributed to the increases in prices, it was disingenuous of the Taoiseach to blame the crisis in its entirety on the war in Ukraine. Ireland was struggling with a cost-of-living crisis before the war. People in Ireland pay way more for rent, childcare, utilities and most basics than people in other European countries, and have done so for many years. In addition, people in Ireland have higher mortgage interest rates. Since the war in Ukraine, the situation has been compounded to the stage where people are not able to survive. Ireland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet working people cannot afford to house and feed their families. Young people are preparing to leave because they cannot afford to live here, even if they have decent jobs.

There is plenty the Government can do now. Ignoring the problem until the end of the year is a reckless dereliction of duty. Sinn Féin has outlined a package of measures in a mini-budget that will support lower- and middle-income households. There is plenty that could be done if the political will was there. A surplus of €1.6 billion is expected this year. The rising prices are raising revenue for the Government and that money needs to be given back to those in need.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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When I speak on issues relating to the cost of living, issues that Sinn Féin has been raising for a long time, I usually recall the real life stories and situations that are brought to my office and those of other Sinn Féin Deputies, but the Government knows all of this, or at least it tells us it knows it all. It tells us that it knows and understands, yet still it will not act. The Government amendment to the motion says it all. Of course, it says nothing new. The Government is still speaking about social welfare increases that were announced eight months ago even though those social welfare increases of €5 a week for most recipients came after two years of no increases at all while every weekly social welfare rate is set well below the poverty line.

The Government speaks about the fuel allowance, which is extremely limited. Workers cannot access it. There is almost an intention to push a line that fuel allowance is related to fuel poverty or supports households at risk of fuel poverty. As all present will be aware, there is no link between the fuel allowance and households that are in or at risk of fuel poverty. If a person is getting a certain payment, he or she gets the fuel allowance regardless of whether he or she lives in an A-rated house. It does not come into it. The fuel allowance needs serious reform. Eligibility needs to be widened. It is not the be all and end all when it comes to supporting workers who cannot access it in the first place.

The amendment goes on to state that there is a need for targeted measures. We know that 87% of the measures the Government has brought in this year have not been targeted and that is why the situation has worsened. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council told the Government that. It produced that figure of 80%.

The amendment refers to the possibility of damaging our international cost competitiveness. To stand back from it, what about the damage the Government is doing to households? What about the damage it is doing to children, the consequences of which will remain with many of them for the rest of their lives, and the damage it is doing to the most vulnerable citizens - citizens who live with a disability, lone parents and family carers - who are struggling every day? The Government response to them is that it does not wish to damage our international cost competitiveness. Its other response is that it will wait until October.

I welcome that changes have been made to the additional needs payment. Its name has been changed and there are new income limits and all of that is welcome but I again ask that it be moved online. Many people are not comfortable going to a community welfare officer within their local community. This facility should be online so that people can apply online, as is the case for many other social welfare payments.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that:

— the annual rate of consumer price inflation, as measured by the European Union's Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, has picked up sharply in recent months, reaching a multi-decade high of 8.3 per cent in May;

— the key driver of inflation at present is the sharp rise in wholesale energy, food and other commodity prices since the onset of the war in Ukraine;

— Budget 2022 contained a large range of measures to protect households from the rising cost of living, including a personal income tax package worth €520 million next year and a social welfare package of over €550 million;

— a further suite of measures amounting to €505 million was announced on 10th February, 2022, with measures including an energy credit of €200 (inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT)) to every household in the country, a once—off lump sum payment in respect of the Fuel Allowance, and a 20 per cent reduction in public transport fares;

— on 9th March, at an estimated cost of €320 million, the Government agreed to VAT-inclusive reductions in excise duty of 20 cent per litre in respect of petrol, 15 cent per litre in respect of diesel and 2 cent per litre in respect of Marked Gas Oil;

— in April and May, the Government announced a further set of measures amounting to almost €500 million, including a reduction in the VAT rate for electricity and gas to 9 per cent from 1st May until the end of October, an additional once-off lump sum payment in respect of the Fuel Allowance and the extension of the 9 per cent VAT rate for the hospitality sector until the end of February 2023; and

— on a cumulative basis, this brings the total cost-of-living package to approximately €2.4 billion;

recognises that:

— the Government has been pro-active in limiting the fall-out from higher rates of inflation;

— this follows the extensive support provided to households and firms during the pandemic, where the Government made available €48 billion of fiscal support, one of the most significant policy responses of any country in the world;

— Ireland's public debt is almost a quarter of a trillion euros as a result, and among the highest in the developed world on a per capita basis; and

— Ireland is a small open economy, where wage growth in excess of other economies erodes our competitiveness and puts future jobs and economic growth at risk; and

acknowledges that:

— the recent rise in inflation is primarily the result of global factors and consequently largely beyond the reach of Government policy;

— the recent increase in inflation is having a significant impact on the cost of living for Irish citizens;

— while the Government has already introduced a wide range of measures to mitigate the impacts of increases in the cost of living on citizens, it must pursue broadly neutral budgetary policy in order to contain domestic inflationary pressures;

— Government policy should focus on temporary and targeted measures, aimed at the most vulnerable;

— it is crucial that we do not have an inflation 'chain reaction' that would damage our international cost competitiveness;

— borrowing costs, including sovereign borrowing costs, are now on a rising trajectory, and accordingly, trade-offs are once again apparent and choices about tax and spending will have to be made, as revenue and expenditure will need to be aligned in order to avoid adding to the stock of debt; and

— the budgetary process is the best and most appropriate way to consider further action on the cost-of-living challenge and this issue must be addressed in a strategic, comprehensive and responsible manner."

I welcome the opportunity to respond to the motion on an emergency budget, which the Government opposes. As is well known, the budgetary process for budget 2023 is well under way. The national economic dialogue took place last week and the summer economic statement will be published in the coming weeks. The normal budgetary process is the best and most responsible framework for further policy discussions on this matter.

It is important to remember the current economic context. After two years, we have finally put the worst impacts of the pandemic behind us. The fiscal support provided by this Government was unprecedented in scale and scope. This support was essential in laying the groundwork for a strong economic recovery when restrictions could be lifted. We have seen such a recovery taking hold. There are now more people at work in Ireland than ever before. That is a remarkable statistic when considering the turmoil in the labour market during the pandemic. As I speak, there are 2.5 million people in the workforce. That is a record number and a very high proportion. Despite that, many businesses are still having difficulty recruiting staff as a result of the extra spending in which people are engaging at this time.

Enabling this recovery has come at a significant cost, however. Before the onset of the pandemic, we were in a position of financial strength. The economy was operating at nearly full employment, the ratio of public debt to national income was moving in the right direction on a downward path, and there had been two successive years of budgetary surpluses for the first time since the financial crisis. The Government acted swiftly and decisively, deploying all the financial firepower necessary to protect households and the wider economy. Our fiscal resources were emptied as a result. Since the start of 2020, we have run deficits of almost €30 billion overall. This year, in spite of the recovery, we still expect a record deficit. It is important for people to recognise that it was as a result of the sound management of the economy in recent years that the economy was in a position to provide that €30 billion that was much needed during Covid. If finances had been run-down and our financial situation weaker, we would not have been in a position to do that. The level of expenditure and support that we gave to working families, other families and business compare very well with the levels in any other country in the developed world.

This is a dangerous position for a small open economy to be in. We know that, as we have seen clearly through the past two-and-a-half years, Ireland is particularly vulnerable to volatility in the global economy. We must return the public finances to a sustainable trajectory. I do not think any Member objects to that.

The Government knows that people are struggling. That is why we have acted numerous times throughout the year. Taking into account the budget measures, most of which came in earlier this year, and the income tax and social welfare packages, we have provided almost €2.4 billion in support to assist those dealing with the cost-of-living challenge. This support has been particularly targeted at helping the most vulnerable and those least able to absorb increased costs, including multiple lump sum payments in respect of the fuel allowance. That has been done at various times. Some people claim those measures are not targeted. Members of the Opposition have quoted certain figures. The measures consistently proposed in this Chamber day in, day out by the main Opposition parties to reduce tax and levies on petrol and diesel are precisely the measures that the organisations in question have said are not targeted. People driving big cars to work would be the principal beneficiaries of such measures. The Government has taken a different approach. I refer to the ESRI report that was published a week ago and dealt with the exact same measure. It took a more understanding approach on this issue and acknowledged that the social welfare fuel allowance increases and items like that were the most targeted and effective. It went on to state that the €200 off people's electricity bills meant more to people on lower incomes than it did to people on higher incomes.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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It did not say that.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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It said the measure proportionately benefited people on lower incomes compared with those on higher incomes. For people with an income of only a few hundred euro a week, the extra €200 meant much more to them than it did to a person on a higher income. Another report noted that measures to reduce taxes and levies on diesel and petrol, which Sinn Féin calls for every day of the week, are the least targeted measures. It is important to say that. Most people will agree we must target our resources where they will have the most effect.

I believe the Opposition accepts that we cannot fully absorb the impact of inflation. It is a global challenge, which, apart from the impact of the Covid pandemic, is due to Putin's war. I will repeat that. Most of the difficulties we are having in regard to fuel supplies and prices are due to Putin's war. If that war were not happening, we might not be in the position we are in today. We cannot skirt over that.

I understand why the Opposition has tabled this motion. It is easy and very popular to say we should always spend more. Those of us in government understand that but we have a greater responsibility to look after the broader picture, not just for this week but for next week, next month and next year. We have shown we are not afraid to act when needed, but we will not act in a reckless manner. Fiscal policy that is poorly designed can backfire. We could end up making inflation worse and chasing inflation. It is not a viable option for the Government to try to respond to every change in inflation on a weekly or monthly basis. We would only end up chasing our tails as we exacerbate the problem we are trying to address.

As the House will be aware, the Government will outline its budgetary strategy in the summer economic statement, which will be published in the coming weeks. It will set out the budgetary stance for next year and how we will return our finances to a stable trajectory. We will target the lowest viable level of borrowing to bring our deficit under control, while still allowing us the flexibility to intervene in a targeted way wherever and whenever that is needed. In an environment in which interest rates are rising, this is the only course of action to take. People are feeling that rise in their mortgage payments and the State feels it as well in respect of servicing public debt. We will continue to reduce the ratio of our public debt to income, which will help with the cost-of-living challenge in a targeted, responsible way. We will reduce the reliance of the public finances on highly volatile corporation tax receipts, which, as mentioned on a regular basis in the House, have made the headline budgetary figures look misleadingly positive. These receipts cannot be guaranteed to continue year after year into the future. We cannot bank on always having them. While the numbers might look very positive right now, there is no guarantee that will be the case next year, when we will still be dealing with cost-of-living issues. Inflation will not disappear in only a few months.

The Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform will present budget 2023 to the House in the not too distant future. As we have stated, it will contain measures that will substantially deal with increases in the cost of living and how they affect individuals, workers, families and those who are most vulnerable. Discussions during the budgetary process are the appropriate forum for designating policy interventions that are best suited for the current conditions. Through dialogue with stakeholders, we will introduce a budget that continues to return our public finances to a sustainable level, while also acting responsibly to help those most in need. At the same time, we do not want to fan inflation because that immediately will make everybody's situation worse.

The Government is very conscious of the challenges people are facing. We encounter them on a daily basis on the street and in our clinics. That is why we have brought forward a number of measures to deal with them. We have demonstrated that we will respond in every way we can to mitigate the costs of inflation. We will continue to respond as appropriately and as best we can. I will not go into the details of the various measures we have introduced during the year. Those measures are in place and are indicative of what the Government will do into the future. It has been suggested that we are waiting until the end of the year to take further action. In fact, the measures we introduce will be brought forward in a few months, not at the end of the year. The calls for an emergency budget have not been fully thought through. Budget 2023 will soon be announced and it is through the normal budgetary process that we can most successfully address the cost-of-living challenge without jeopardising the long-term stability of our economy and, at the same time, protect the people in Ireland who are most vulnerable in these difficult financial times.