Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I second the motion and welcome the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to the Chamber. I thank my colleague, Senator Maria Byrne, for setting out the motion.

The scourge of inflation is hurting everybody in this country. The rise in the cost of living caused by inflation is hurting families, single people, students, adults and every sector of society. Inflation is, in the main, outside of our control. The illegal invasion of Ukraine has set the world upside down, in particular the continent of Europe. We have seen that across a range of areas, including energy security and concerns about energy supplies.

We know the importance of money in people's pockets. Families who this time last year had certain pressures have now reached a different level. The Government has responded and, to be fair, that is set out in the motion. The Government has responded in budgetary and supplementary packages and in addressing issues with the duty on fuel. When the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, was before the House I asked that these things be kept under review. They have to be kept under continuous review by the Government.

We need to re-examine duties on fuel because that is having an impact on everybody across the country who drives a car, in particular those in rural and regional Ireland where choices are limited and people have to use cars to go to work, school or drop off children. There are significant costs associated with this. As I said, the Government has responded, but need to consider the whole area of fuel.

The squeezed middle comprises real people. It is not a cliché; real people up and down this country are earning good money on paper but have mortgages or rent to pay and childcare costs, and inflation is using into whatever reserves or savings they might have and their budget planning is being affected.

The Government has assisted the squeezed middle for a number of years, including increases to the cut-off to the standard rate of income tax credits, free GP care for all children aged under six, free GP visit cards for those aged over 70, regardless of income, a reduced maximum payment under the drugs payment scheme, the introduction of paternity benefit and the extension of parents' benefit from five to seven weeks in July. These are all very positive measures that have assisted people.

One important area we have focused on over a number of budgets is adjusting the standard rate cut-off point for the higher rate of tax. Some parties and individuals seem to have an aversion to what they perceive to be tax cuts and think they are bad. Tax cuts are important. Adjusting the standard rate of tax is very important, because if we did not adjust the level at which people start paying the higher rate of tax, then everyone would end up on a higher rate of tax. Fine Gael and the Government have looked at this over the past number of years. It is important that the Cabinet and Government continue that in the forthcoming budget.

We want a cost of living package in budget 2023 to build on what we have done in 2022. We want further income tax adjustments in order that the squeezed middle do not lose out. Most pay increases they are getting are going on income tax, USC and PRSI. We want pension and welfare payment increases. We want to examine the areas where costs are out of line with other European countries, including increasing universal childcare subsidies for all parents.

The reduction in fares on public transport was an excellent start and it is something we should focus on, in terms of eventually moving to having free public transport. Lowering the cost of college through reducing the student contribution and increasing eligibility for student grants, reducing the cost of healthcare and increasing the number of cost rental and affordable housing schemes are all measures that will assist the squeezed middle in our country, that is, the people who get up early in the morning, go to work, pay their taxes and do not get the same benefits as everyone else. That is important.