2026-05-07

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — Budget 2026 failed to provide for indexation of income tax credits and bands, providing instead untargeted Value-Added Tax (VAT) cuts for the hospitality and construction sector; — despite clear evidence of an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the Government withdrew energy credits and cut pre-election once-off payments, that in recent years had cloaked the inadequacy of existing social welfare payment rates; — the analysis by the Economic and Social Research Institute of Budget 2026 measures, shows that it resulted in household income losses averaging 2 per cent of disposable income, with low-income households hit hardest; — the illegal war launched by the United States of America and Israel against Iran, has created an energy crisis that has already led to increased inflation, with further price rises still to come on energy, food and other commodities; — the energy sector is reaping windfall gains, with British Petroleum reporting more than a doubling of profits in the first three months of 2026; — last year, in advance of Budget 2026, Department of Finance officials warned that the hospitality VAT cut was a blunt measure, would be poorly targeted, and comes with a significant amount of deadweight, while Bord Bia consumer spending in food services data shows that 60 per cent of the benefit goes to fast food outlets and hotels; — sectoral fuel supports and cuts to Excise Duty have been introduced by the Government, which includes changes to the Diesel Rebate Scheme that were backdated to January 2026; — struggling households will have to wait over five months, until October, to find out what supports may be introduced to ease the increase in the cost of living; and — the State has yet to deploy the Apple windfall funds, and carries significant cash balances; recognises that: — Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and self-employed workers have received no targeted support in the cost-of-living crisis, and are now subject to effective cuts in their disposable incomes due to Government budget decisions; — rising grocery prices continue to impact on household budgets, as 14 per cent of households can't afford to warm their home, and nearly half a million households are in arrears on their energy bills; — those most at risk of energy poverty, and reliant on fossil fuels, will continue to be hit hardest by further increases in energy prices; — Ireland has the highest energy prices in Europe, due to an overreliance on natural gas for electricity generation leaving us exposed to geopolitical shocks and international market prices; and — only by rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels through faster rollout of renewables, and electrification of transport and heating, can prices be permanently reduced; calls on the Government to immediately introduce a Cost of Living mini-Budget that will: — reverse the VAT reductions and use the savings to provide for indexation of income tax bands and credits, backdated to January 2026; — introduce a windfall tax on energy profits to fund targeted energy credits and social welfare supports, including a summer bonus double payment; — provide a one-off €100 grocery supplement to Child Benefit, restore the €100 previously cut from the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, and remove State exam fees; — increase the bank levy to €500 million, and provide targeted energy grants for small businesses, and tailored supports to increase uptake of Electric Vehicles for households and businesses; — introduce pilot trials of free public transport, to reduce fuel use and cut school transport fees; and — deploy the windfall Apple funds to turbocharge retrofitting, the installation of solar photovoltaic and offshore wind, and the electrification of heating and transport, to bring down the cost of bills; and further calls on the Government to introduce a Budget in October that puts the interests of middle- and low-income households first. I will be sharing time with colleagues. I am pleased to move the Labour Party motion which calls for the introduction of a mini-budget targeted unashamedly at Ireland's 3.5 million PAYE workers. Working households are bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living permacrisis. This is no longer a fleeting problem. We have the highest energy costs in the EU; childcare which is a veritable second mortgage; rising college costs which Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would rather have a public fight over than sort out; workers paying more income tax this year than last; extortionate housing costs; and the long-fingering of a living wage. I could go on. The Government made choices in last year's budget that are now coming home to roost. For example, it went all in on plain silly VAT cuts for a hospitality sector that is adding jobs by the day instead of easing income tax for workers. The Minister of State's own party, Fianna Fáil, clearly still has the hots for big builders as is shown by the dopey decision to transfer a few hundred million euro to apartment developers to boost their bottom lines on homes, many of which were already under construction. The ESRI and others set out how decisions made last October which came into effect on 1 January of this year would leave working families worse off. They did so and then some. The Government has to own those decisions. Those choices are now coming home to roost. All of this was before Trump's and Israel's misadventure in Iran. While the situation is worse now than could have been envisaged by anybody last October, it will get worse still. All the while, the cost of energy has gone up to the tune of well over one week's wages for a worker on the national minimum wage. I thought it was tone deaf of the Taoiseach, Monty Martin, and his sidekick, Waylon Smithers O'Connor, to be extolling the virtues of a shift to nuclear when this Government has proved itself completely incapable of developing the offshore wind we need to decarbonise to make our bills cheaper and secure our economy's future by ensuring that Ireland becomes a net energy exporter. What kind of message does this send to possible wind farm developers who have enough to contend with from a Government that has not been exactly all in on wind and solar? Are they being given the message now that Ireland is taking another look at renewables like offshore wind and will instead focus on nuclear? This is the distraction of the decade. By all means, let us have the debate but the Government's timing is badly off and quite frankly it is an insult to the intelligence of the Irish people. It is also quite something to think that the Tánaiste's signature contribution to the debate on household finances since he took office has been the 563rd announcement of a proposed new retail savings and investment scheme, which, while it has merits, will do absolutely zero to help working families who are not worried about savings and investment schemes, but rather are concerned about the day-to-day problems of keeping the fridge and the presses stocked with food. As for the Taoiseach's musings to the Sunday newspapers on inheritance tax changes, I think we should leave that argument to another day. What the Labour Party is proposing today is simple, straightforward and impactful. If adopted, it would make a real difference to the lives of working people now. The Labour Party's mini-budget would provide almost €1,000 in income supports for working families and make a real difference in helping them to cope with the escalating cost of living. Our proposals would transfer profits from the big energy companies, big tech, the infamous burger barons and the banks to the pockets of PAYE workers and the self-employed who are struggling to make it to the end of week three of the month. Our proposals would reverse the indefensible decision to give a VAT cut to fast-food chains and instead give workers a break. The Labour Party is calling for the indexation of tax credits and bands to allow workers to hold on to more of their wages. This would be worth €400 to someone earning €50,000 and ensure the real value of their pay is not reduced due to rising prices and wage increases. We want to see this backdated to January, just as the diesel rebate scheme changes were backdated by several weeks. We want to see targeted energy income tax credits worth €400 for working households with incomes of less than €80,000. We would also introduce a double social welfare payment just like the Christmas bonus. The Minister of State will know that hot school meals are a real help for families but they end when the summer holidays start and grocery prices continue to climb. That is why we would provide a one-off summer grocery supplement of €100 for each child through the child benefit system, giving real help to families. We would cut school transport fees, which are due to rise sharply in September, and we would scrap the reimposed €116 charge on students to take the leaving cert and €109 for the junior cert. We would reduce public transport costs in a really targeted way and include a trial of free public transport that would cost an average of €90 million a month. A number of cities and countries around the world have made public transport free as part of their response to the energy shock and there is no reason we cannot do it here. For the longer term, we would increase investment in retrofitting and renewable energy. Colleagues will expand on this later in their contributions. We want to turbocharge the retrofitting process across the country and use the profits of big tech in the form of the Apple tax windfall to fund it. The Labour Party is always careful with the public finances and we have set out precisely how this package is to be funded in a responsible way. We propose €1.3 billion in revenue-raising measures to cover the cost of these measures to help working families to make ends meet. The increased revenue will be drawn from a windfall tax on energy companies, which seem enjoy record profits every time there is an oil crisis. The rest of the money will come from a reversal of the VAT reduction due to come in in July as well as an increase in the bank levy. In short, this is an old-fashioned transfer of wealth from big business to the pockets of working people who keep this country going day in, day out but are far too often absent from the thinking and considerations of this conservative coalition. It is quite extraordinary that the Government has chosen to oppose this modest motion. Before the last election, Government parties bought voters' support with their own money. There was no shortage of hare-brained wheezes that Jack and Paschal were happy to fund. What we are proposing now is a fiscally and socially responsible initiative to assist households that need extra help today. This would be done in a focused way and before the benefits of October's budget are seen next January. Working people simply cannot wait until October for a signal that they will receive some respite through the budget process. They need support now and I am happy to propose our motion.

I am delighted to second this motion. I commend my colleague Deputy Ged Nash on proposing a mini-budget on behalf of the Labour Party in order to stand up, as he says, unapologetically for hard-pressed PAYE workers and their families, who have been left behind by the Government's policies. Ged has been a voice of reason as our finance spokesperson. He has consistently called out the crazy VAT cuts that the Government introduced for burger barons and big builders. Unlike the Government and uniquely among other parties, the Labour Party has opposed those VAT cuts. Indeed, we are against narrowing the tax base. As socialists and as a socialist party, we stand for transfer of wealth, for redistribution and for equality. Unlike the Government, we are not kite flying on issues such as inheritance tax and nuclear power. We are putting forward a costed and clear set of proposals, a mini-budget to help struggling households and families. Since the escalation of Trump's war in the Middle East and with Putin's continued assault on Ukraine, we have seen a cost-of-living crisis that is biting deeper for families and households across the country, with nearly half a million households now in arrears on energy bills as energy prices in Ireland skyrocket. There was confirmation this week of what we already knew: Irish electricity prices are the highest in Europe. Far too many households are feeling the pressure as we learn that rising costs are blowing a €2,000 hole in average household budgets this year. What has the Government done? It has withdrawn energy credits, it has not put any cushioning in place and it has failed to index tax bands. That is before we talk about its slashing of VAT for Supermac’s, with zero evidence that it would help households. Far too many are feeling the pressure every day at the till and in their bills. Despite working hard, they are being crushed by a cost-of-living crisis. This is no accident. It is down to the Government's policies. It is not an inevitability. We can look elsewhere, and I have called out the Taoiseach on this. The Government can look to Spain, where a socialist Government has ensured that Spanish households enjoy some of the lowest electricity prices in Europe. Why? It is because their Government invested heavily in renewables. By contrast, the Government's response to this crisis is to subsidise fossil fuels, further locking us into polluting, unreliable energy. The Government had other options. It had progressive options. It could do what we are proposing in this mini-budget and introduce a windfall tax on the energy profits of big companies, ensure that we have a real retrofitting revolution, ensure that households receive supports to fund the rollout of solar panels and ensure that we see wind power being generated at pace, instead of slowly and with delays. The Government’s crypto set of ad hoc measures should amount to a mini-budget but they do nothing for those who are struggling because the Government has no coherent vision for how to support them. It would have been more honest to call the drip-feed of measures what they are - a mini-budget released in segments - because that would have allowed people to judge it on its merits. The Government has not done that. It knows its package is doing nothing for families that are already stretched to breaking point. We ask the Government to adopt our motion and implement the clear measures that we have set out here - targeted measures that will support struggling families in a cost-of-living crisis. Stop wasting time and money that people simply do not have to spare.

I thank Deputy Nash for his considerable work on this motion and for bringing forward the Labour Party mini-budget. Too many workers and self-employed people who keep this country going, day in, day out, have nothing left by the end of the week, and struggle to simply put food on the table. The older people who built this Republic are forced to choose between heating and eating, while carers, who work 24-7 and save the State billions every year, get little or no recognition of the extraordinary care they provide. These are the people the Government left behind, not just in the budget of 2026, but also in the recent fuel supports, as announced. Those protests were not just about fuel costs. They were also about much more than that. They were about energy bills, renting, house prices, childcare fees, education costs and more. Fundamentally, the social contract has been torn up by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Previously, a decent salary was enough to help people buy a home but now it is just enough to get them from bill to bill. This is what shocks me most about the attitude of the Government. The Government has no idea of the level of anger and frustration out there. The people who are coming to my office in Kildare South are barely surviving, yet these same working people would have been described as comfortable not so many years ago. Every single day of the week, I have people telling me they are under pressure - young families and workers who earn too much to qualify for social housing but nowhere near enough to buy their own home; small businesses stretched to their limits, with some forced to close; and carers and older people afraid to turn on their heating simply because they cannot afford the bills. It is clear the Government has no plan to address the cost-of-living crisis that is impacting so many workers, self-employed people, carers and older people. This is why people took to the streets. They are looking for a lifeline but the Government simply has not delivered for these workers. Our motion brings forward a number of measures that will support the people who need help the most. We need to put money back in the pockets of working people by indexing income tax bands and credits. We need targeted energy credits to help struggling workers and low-income households to keep the lights on and make their houses comfortable once again - those who are lucky enough to have a home. We need energy credits that will support the small businesses that need help the most at this time. We need to make "free" education actually free by abolishing exam fees and cutting school transport fees. We need to bring down the cost of the weekly food shop for working families with a €100 grocery payment on top of the child benefit. These are the real and practical measures that can immediately bring down the cost of living for so many people who are struggling in this State right now. These are the measures that put the worker and the carer of this country first for once, where they deserve to be. I have listened to Minister after Minister say they cannot bring in a mini-budget in advance of the formal budget in October. It is time for the Government to put working people, those who have worked so hard to shape this country and the carers who save the State billions, first. For many of them, it is raining heavily now. If they have to wait until October for help, many will not be able to put their heads above the floods.

I pay tribute to Deputy Nash for his immense work in preparing this mini-budget, which I commend to the House. After Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the energy crisis that followed, the Labour Party was the first party to call for a windfall tax on the gross and excessive profits that were being made by energy companies. It took the Government a year and a half to do it but a temporary solidarity contribution, as it became known, was enacted in 2023 and covered the excess profits of fossil fuel energy companies for the years 2022 and 2023. Some €267 million was raised; it was ring-fenced and helped to reduce the burden of high energy costs on vulnerable households. Then, this really progressive and useful tax was just stopped but the cost-of-living crisis has never stopped. Energy prices have never returned to what they were prior to the war on Ukraine. Fossil fuel companies continue to make record profits. The time has clearly come for this windfall tax to be reintroduced, and that is what we in the Labour Party are calling for today. This fossil fuel crisis has touched more or less every household and small business in the country. We know that 500,000 households are already in arrears on their energy bills. I know people with good jobs and steady careers who are simply not able to pay their bills currently. However, it is low-income households, in particular, who need a lifeline. That is why we are calling for the introduction of targeted energy credits for those with an income of less than €80,000. Before the Government gives out that we only ever want to spend, spend, spend, the credits would be funded by the windfall tax on energy company profits and the other measures that my colleagues have outlined. The Government cannot dither on this again. I hope the Minister for energy will lend his support to us on this. If he does not want to listen to us, he might listen to his party colleague, Barry Andrews, MEP, who has made a similar call. Our costings put the revenue raised from this windfall tax at €476 million, €270 million of which would be used for energy credits, with the remainder put towards social welfare supports, such as a bonus double payment. On many occasions in this House, I have called for a crackdown on profiteering by energy companies in the midst of this cost-of-living crisis. Time and again, we have seen them hike their prices despite very healthy profits. Just last week, when another price rise was announced, I called on the Minister to ensure that the State-owned energy company, Electric Ireland, did not follow the private operators and increase its prices. I repeat that call today. To its credit, Electric Ireland has held off recently on price rises, as is only right and proper for a State-owned company. That must continue. Trump and Netanyahu's illegal war in the Middle East shows very little sign of ending soon. Part of the solution has to be reducing our fossil fuel use. That is why we are proposing a pilot programme of free public transport. Along with introducing a real right to remote work, this is the best way to protect people from the high costs of petrol and diesel by cutting out the cost of commuting altogether. We must offer supports to people in the here and now but the longer-term ambition has to be reducing our dependence on the fossil fuels that have caused this crisis. That means putting the supports in place to help people switch to EVs, particularly in more rural areas with a less developed public transport system. I raised the abysmal uptake of zero emissions HGV grants with the Minister last week. That scheme and the incentives must be reviewed so that they are actually availed of and used. We also need to seriously scale up and deploy our renewable generation capacity. The theoretical musings we have heard about nuclear power this week from Fianna Fáil are simply a distraction. They are fundamentally unserious at a time when we need to just do the simple things right. We know where our renewable potential is, and it is primarily in wind. Now more than ever, we need urgency and focus from the Government in getting offshore wind built. We are told it will be another four years before we even start construction on any offshore wind farms. Just get it done. People are hurting. The Government must heed the calls in our motion to give people support in the short term and focus its attention on the resources we actually have, not fantasise about new energy sources when we have not built an offshore turbine for 20 years.

Hear, hear.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — the conflict in the Middle East has, once again, exposed the vulnerability of the Irish economy, and Irish society more generally, to imported fossil fuels; — these strategic dependencies have major macroeconomic implications, and the risks to macroeconomic and fiscal stability cannot be ignored; — at a minimum, the large upward shift in energy prices is likely to impart a stagflationary impulse to the global economy, with a combination of lower levels of economic activity alongside higher inflation; — by reducing Excise Duty payable on both petrol and diesel, the Government has dampened the pass-through from higher wholesale price to retail prices; — this burden-sharing has been complemented by other support mechanisms, including an extension of the fuel allowance season and targeted measures for the most exposed sectors; — the total budgetary cost of these measures is of the order of €750 million this year, one of the largest interventions of any country in the European Union (EU), and these measures reduce the annual rate of inflation in April, May, June and July by about 0.6 percentage points; — the Government has also extended the 9 per cent Value-Added Tax (VAT) on gas and electricity bills until 31st December, 2030, one of the lowest rates in the EU, which will have cost over €1 billion from the time it was introduced in May 2022, until the end of this year; — Budget 2026 focused on building more homes and protecting jobs; — the 9 per cent VAT rate for hospitality and hairdressing will take effect from 1st July, 2026, to support businesses in services sectors, supporting over 150,000 jobs across the country; — Budget 2026 delivered weekly welfare rate increases, benefitting approximately 1.5 million people, including pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and lone parents; — for low-income families, Budget 2026 increased the weekly rate of the Child Support Payment; and — the Government has increased the rates for the Fuel Allowance, extended it to the recipients of the Working Family Payment, and recently extended the season by four weeks, to protect those at risk of fuel poverty; recognises that: — a package worth €750 million of supports has been introduced by the Government; — rates of Excise Duty (Mineral Oil Tax) applying to petrol, auto diesel and marked gas oil (MGO) have been temporarily reduced; — the National Oil Reserve Agency levy has been reduced by 2 cent per litre of fuel, to 31st July, 2026; — the total reductions, will reduce the cost of: — petrol, by 27 cent per litre; — diesel, by 32 cent per litre; and — MGO/green diesel, by 7.4 cent per litre; — the Government deferred the planned increase in carbon tax, scheduled for 1st May, until October, to provide additional support for consumers of green diesel and other affected fuels; — to protect those at risk of fuel poverty, the Government extended the fuel allowance season by four weeks, which will result in additional payments of over a quarter of households; — in Budget 2026, Government announced that VAT on electricity and gas will remain at the lowest possible level of 9 per cent to the end of 2030, to mitigate costs and address energy poverty; — the Government increased the maximum repayment allowable under the Diesel Rebate Scheme from 7.5 cent up to 12 cent per litre of diesel, which will apply until 30th June, 2026; — these interventions have been designed to provide timely and proportionate relief, indeed, the Government's approach is underpinned by the need to balance short-term supports with longer-term objectives, including: — maintaining fiscal discipline and building fiscal buffers; — supporting continued employment growth and economic stability; — strategic capital investment and infrastructure delivery; — advancing Ireland's climate commitments and energy transition; and — strengthening energy security and resilience; — the Fuel Support Scheme for farmers is now open for applications, and a scheme for hauliers will open in the coming weeks; — Budget 2026 was the first of five budgets to be delivered by the Government; — this Government has committed to, and will stand by, its Programme for Government commitment to make progressive changes to personal income tax, if the economy remains strong; — preparation for Budget 2027 is already underway, and decisions regarding policy measures should be taken in the context of the annual Budget and Finance Bill processes; — the bank levy has raised €1.8 billion since 2014, with a further €200 million due in 2026; — the National Development Plan, includes the once-off receipts arising from the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling of 2024, to advance key capital projects; — the Irish economy is facing its second fossil fuel shock in less than half a decade; — fossil fuel dependence, especially imported fossil fuels, is a major economic vulnerability; — analytical work will be undertaken by the Department of Finance, to set out the key macroeconomic principles that should guide the medium-term transition towards energy independence; and — the Government has also established the National Energy Affordability Taskforce, to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses, while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability; and acknowledges that: — the geopolitical and economic outlook continues to be highly uncertain; — in the Department of Finance's reference scenario, inflation is projected to average 3.3 per cent this year, 1.5 percentage points higher than assumed at budget time, but still significantly lower than the 8.1 per cent rate recorded in 2022, after the last energy price shock; — the economy is still expected to grow this year, albeit at a slower pace than previously forecast, and Government has committed to a range of temporary measures to mitigate the impact of increases in energy prices on households and businesses; — the overall approach to budgetary policy must remain balanced and sustainable over the medium-term; and — the Government will consider the continued impact of the energy shock on households, and make proportionate decisions in the forthcoming Budget.". The Government opposes the motion initiated by the Labour Party. Nonetheless, I thank it for giving me the opportunity to discuss the Government's management of the public finances, the supports we have put in place and the preparations already under way for budget 2027. I will do so without resorting to petty name-calling of any individuals. Nobody can honestly say what the future holds in regard to the war in the Middle East. This is contributing to a deeply uncertain global picture. No government can totally shield its country against the worst global energy crisis we have seen since the 1970s. For a small, highly open economy and, importantly, a net importer of energy, this situation presents a particular challenge for Ireland. The Government has already taken action, in a targeted and affordable way, to protect households, businesses and key sectors of our economy from the recent energy price shock. Our response goes much further than the responses of many other nations around the globe. This is a testament to the prudent management of public finances, which I will touch on later. We may disagree on what supports we have initiated, but it is simply wrong to say that nothing has been done. Our status as a net importer of energy means that movements in international energy prices are transmitted quickly into our domestic economy. We are acutely aware that this places real pressure on households and businesses. I acknowledge the fear and frustration which were evident around the country in recent weeks. We are responding to those concerns, and will continue to do so. That is why the Government acted in a decisive and responsible manner, providing supports of over €750 million. These interventions were built on permanent targeted supports which were introduced as part of budget 2026 and budget 2025, including the 9% VAT rate for gas and electricity, increases for social welfare, higher child support payments, increases and extensions to the eligibility for the fuel allowance, the further roll-out of free school meals, which Deputy Nash acknowledged as a good initiative, further roll-out of the free books schemes, a significant increase in housing spend - last year, the highest number of social houses were built since the 1970s - and a significant increase of 20% in the disability spend. It is simply wrong to say that nothing is being done. It is important to be clear about this Government’s approach. The choices we make in responding to these pressures will have longer term consequences, and that is why the Government has been very deliberate in its response. Our response has been targeted, temporary and proportionate. This allows us to support those most vulnerable, avoid embedding measures that add to inflation and retain capacity to respond to future challenges. The Government has introduced both tax and spending measures, including reducing the excise duty on diesel by a total of 32 cent per litre, on petrol by 27 cent per litre and on green diesel by 7.4 cent per litre. This means a saving of roughly €16 on diesel and €13.50 on petrol for motorists for an average 50-litre fill at the pumps. Every single motorist is benefiting from those interventions. We are enhancing the diesel rebate scheme. We are delaying the scheduled May increase in carbon tax until later in the year. We are reducing the NORA levy to a nominal amount. We are extending the fuel allowance season, directly targeting energy costs, benefiting the widest range of cohorts, focusing on pensioners, carers, lone parents, people with disabilities and long-term unemployed people. For the first time, the Government is extending the fuel allowance to people who are in receipt of the working family payment. These are all direct, targeted measures helping the most vulnerable in society, which the Deputies failed to acknowledge. The Government is also introducing a transport support scheme for haulage operators, Local Link providers, school transport providers and certain commercial passenger operators, to a maximum of €40 million per month for a period of three months from March to May 2026, providing a flat-rate payment based on the number of vehicles operated. This is helping to keep food on our shelves and preventing further increases on the cost of doing a weekly shop, ensuring that children can continue to go to school on a daily basis. These are all direct, targeted interventions. The Government has also introduced a fuel subsidy support scheme for farming and fisheries, totalling €20 million per month for the five-month period from March to July 2026, to provide funding support equivalent to 20 cent per litre for green diesel to be paid based on usage, again supporting our primary food producers. These measures have been put in place because the Government has had sound management of our public finances in recent years and we had the capacity to make the interventions. Many countries across the globe have had to borrow to make their interventions. There is not, as some on the Opposition benches might describe , a sort of endless money tree to pick from. Our economic position of strength requires careful management, something which not all in opposition appreciate. We have vulnerabilities in our tax base, particularly when it comes to corporation tax. The Government has been effectively managing these windfalls and investing in the future of this economy through the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund. This will allow us to plug the infrastructure gap to make our economy more competitive. This motion tabled by the Opposition seeks to have us spend not only in the future but also in the past, reopening tax credits and income tax bands on a retrospective basis. What will the Deputies forgo to make this happen? Will they deprioritise investments or scale back on everyday services? Those are choices they will have to make. This Government is honest. It is time for the Opposition to be honest too. The Government was elected to maintain sound public finances. As such, an inappropriate fiscal response would risk undermining our ability to take further action in the future as the situation evolves.

It is a jammy Government.

It is jammy when things are going right and when things are going wrong, it is the fault of the Government. That is a very simplistic approach. lf the economy remains strong, we will stand by the programme for Government commitment to make progressive changes to personal income tax rates. We have full employment. I suppose that is jammy and good luck too. From my perspective, as a Minister of State in the Department of Finance, this budget should be about rewarding work. In budget 2026, it was about supporting jobs, record investment in housing and record investment in disabilities. We must ensure that budget 2027 is about supporting those who are working and there are significant tax measures to support them. I remind the Opposition, the Labour Party in particular, that the programme for Government is a five-year programme. We have delivered one budget in that timeframe, yet the Deputies seem somewhat disappointed that every measure has not been introduced in year one at a time of huge global uncertainty. It is not about political gameplaying. Preparation for budget 2027 is already well under way. Next month, the Government will host the national economic dialogue. We will be listening to stakeholders from across society and discussing the necessary reforms and priorities for the upcoming budget, all with a view to shaping a secure future. The Government has shown that we are not afraid to act swiftly and forcefully when required, but we have always been clear that the best way to debate and manage fiscal policy is in the context of the annual budget cycle, rather than through multiple fiscal events a year. It is also worth stepping pack for a moment and looking at the broader economic context. The Irish economy has continued to demonstrate remarkable resilience. Our unemployment rate has remained below 5%, a level consistent with full employment, for almost four years now. This strength reflects the resilience of our economy and enterprise base. We cannot take this economic resilience for granted. In the current environment, risks remain firmly tilted to the downside and the outlook continues to be shaped by developments beyond our control. Inflation now stands at 3.6% for April. Four years ago, in 2022, that rate was over 8%. While still lower than at the peak of the energy shock in 2022, Irish electricity prices are high compared to those of our European neighbours. We are responding to that previous shock and the one we are feeling now. It is important to acknowledge that Ireland's exposure to this energy price shock is, in part, a consequence of our reliance on imported fossil fuels. Reducing that reliance is imperative. We are making significant investments in renewable energy and grid infrastructure and rolling out supports to improve the energy efficiency of our homes and workplaces.

I thank my colleague Deputy Nash for bringing forward this Private Members' motion on the cost-of-living crisis. I listened carefully to the Minister of State's words. He talked about acknowledging the fear and frustration that were evident around the country in recent weeks and how this Government is responding. The Government is responding all right to those who blockaded our streets. While we had genuine sympathy for many of those people, we, the Labour Party, are standing for the people who could not get to work, who had to spend hours getting to their health appointments and for whom this Government has delivered nothing. That is why we are calling for a mini-budget. Most of us have weekly or monthly clinics and we knock on doors on a regular basis. However, because we have a by-election in Dublin Central at the moment, I am knocking on doors on a daily basis. I have to tell the Minister of State that there is a serious level of bitterness and resentment towards this Government. That bitterness is because people felt bought before the general election when, for three winters, there were energy tax credits worth €2.77 billion and then when household arrears topped €500,000 last winter, there was no support. I am talking to women in flat complexes who are putting in €50 every two days into prepaid meters. They cannot afford to continue. There is bitterness among workers on average incomes - the mechanics, office administrators, bus drivers and social care workers. These workers on average incomes of €52,000 are now somehow deemed to be high earners in our income tax system because they are paying the higher rate of tax. We have a tax system that is seriously out of kilter when the marginal rate of 52% kicks in for those on just above average earnings. We need to see changes to that to make sure average workers pay the standard rate of tax. Among so many other working people, many of whom vote for the Minister of State's party and other Government parties, there is a real sense of bitterness and resentment about what the Government is doing with their hard-earned taxes. They are being told to weather this storm until October, to sit it out, yet they see the prospect in July of a VAT cut for the hospitality sector, with no guarantee that it will save jobs or businesses. We hear all these excuses from Government about the war, the energy markets and whatever else. There is some sort of post-colonial feigned helplessness in the way this Government responds. There is always someone else to blame. That has to change and the Government has to control the controllable by using the might of our public finances to permanently reduce the cost of living and cut people's bills by retrofitting homes while also reducing emissions. It must use the might of the public finances to keep people healthy and out of hospital by actually purchasing available vaccines, such as the shingles vaccine and the enhanced flu vaccine, rather than throwing its hands up in the air, saying these vaccines are too expensive. We had the extraordinary situation in March whereby the Government concluded a multibillion euro three-year deal with the pharmaceutical companies in this country for the purchase of drugs for people who are sick and there is not a single mention of vaccines. The prosperity we see in our public finances will not be there forever and I very much worry about when those days are going to change. The last major economic expansion in our country was 21 years ago. We are now 14 years into our current run. It is vital that we make the most of what we have. We have to make sure that with the money we have, clean, cheap energy is for the many, not just the few; that the system of grants is overhauled so that when households look at solar grants they do not see the actual cost quadruple; and that we achieve scale and put in place incentives to have a number of properties retrofitted together in order that we get to the point that 500,000 houses are retrofitted by 2030. We need ambition from this Government. We are not seeing that. We have to use the resources we currently have and that may not be there forever to ensure we resolve the cost-of-living crisis.

It was incredible for the Minister of State to say our motivation for calling for the introduction of a mini-budget was impatience and that it was because the Government is not bringing in its budgets quickly enough. We do not support the programme for Government. If its first budget is anything to go by, the Government has no interest in helping ordinary workers and families given that it prioritised the hospitality sector. We are proposing this mini-budget because it is pouring down on people out there. We are in the midst of the worst fuel crisis in the history of the planet. What does this Government decide to do to distract people this week? It says we should discuss nuclear power. If anything highlights the poverty of the Government's ambition in this area, it is that. It is an utterly brainless idea when states like Germany, Italy and Lithuania decommissioned nuclear power a long time ago. Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and others are actively winding down nuclear power because they know it is not the power source of the future, but the power source of the past. What is the Irish Government doing? It is going to start a conversation about it. The Government is utterly without ideas. We know what the future is but this is about what we can do now. Food prices are absolutely crippling people. In this mini-budget, we are offering a €100 credit. Yes, it is blunt but at least it will help people right now. We are proposing targeted energy credits for households that are struggling to pay their energy bills. All the Government says in opposition to this is that people should contact their energy company and draw down their hardship fund. That shows an absolute poverty of ambition and absolutely no ideas. PrepayPower Energy announced last week that electricity prices are going to rise by nearly 10%. We know the other companies are going to follow. We know food prices are increasing week on week, yet the Government has no answers. We are not just looking to shake the magic money tree. We are putting in place a plan, through windfall taxes, to fund what we are asking to do. This is not voodoo economics from us, but a plan for how to raise the money and where to spend it properly. The Government does not care about that because it is listening to who shouts the loudest and sectoral interests. It is letting down workers, families and households all over the country and it just does not care.

I must note the irony of a Fianna Fáil Minister coming in here and trying to lecture the Labour Party on fiscal responsibility. It is unbelievable. Fianna Fáil crippled the country and allowed the Labour Party to try to bring it back from the brink and the Minister of State comes in here and tries to lecture us on fiscal responsibility. This is a vital and timely motion. It is clear to many of us in this House that we urgently need intervention to support ordinary working people in this country. I was genuinely shocked when the news came through that there are to be increases in school transport costs. The Minister of State told us about a transport support scheme for school bus operators. What about the parents who have to pay these school bus costs?

Hear, hear.

What about those parents who are struggling to get their children to school, predominantly children in rural areas who the Minister of State professes to represent? Education in Ireland is supposed to be free. It is clear to parents across the country that it is only free in name. Prior to the general election in 2024, the then Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government implemented supports to households to cope with soaring energy bills. Since the election, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have cut those supports from right under families while energy costs rise. These increases affect the lowest income households the hardest at a time when one in seven children lives in households that are below the poverty line, with over 264,000 children living in households experiencing deprivation. I repeat that there are 264,000 children in this country experiencing deprivation. We had post-election tax cuts for industries that are raking in the money and for which nobody in this country voted. The Labour Party understands many small businesses, farmers and contractors are under pressure and need support. We backed the package, and the Minister of State will see for a fact that we voted for it to support them, but the lack of targeted measures is galling. There is the example of the Panda waste collection company increasing monthly fees due to the fuel crisis and being outside of the scope of the support package. An increase of €12 a month is not nominal. How are you supposed to absorb additional household fees if you are already struggling to heat your home or put food on the table for your children? The cost of groceries in this country has skyrocketed in the past five years. The price of chicken breast has increased from €5 to €12 or more. That increase is a snowball continuing to build. We have proposed to the Government that it provide a one-off €100 grocery supplement to child benefit, restore the €100 previously cut from the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance and remove State examination fees because these are not optional extras but everyday necessities for people. On the face of them, these measures are normal and would help ordinary working people, but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have never represented the ordinary working people in this country. The Minister of State can throw his eyes to heaven all he wants, but I know that for a fact. They have never represented ordinary working people in this country-----

When push comes to shove.

-----but we profess to and do represent ordinary working people in this country - for example, by putting forward this mini budget, with practical, real-life solutions that will help in the here and now, rather than the Minister of State just throwing his eyes to heaven in the face of the people and the families across this country who are struggling to put food on the table for their children.

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "notes that" and substitute the following: ": — the conflict in the Middle East has, once again, exposed the vulnerability of the Irish economy, and Irish society more generally, to imported fossil fuels; — these strategic dependencies have major macroeconomic implications, and the risks to macroeconomic and fiscal stability cannot be ignored; — at a minimum, the large upward shift in energy prices is likely to impart stagflationary impulses to the global economy, with a combination of lower levels of economic activity alongside higher inflation; — by reducing Excise Duty payable on both petrol and diesel, the Government has dampened the pass-through from higher wholesale price to retail prices, but they have not gone far enough; — this burden-sharing has been complemented by other support mechanisms, including an extension of the fuel allowance season and targeted measures for the most exposed sectors; — the total budgetary cost of these measures is of the order of €750 million this year, one of the largest interventions of any country in the European Union (EU), and these measures reduce the annual rate of inflation in April, May, June and July by about 0.6 percentage points; — the Government has also extended the 9 per cent Value-Added Tax (VAT) on gas and electricity bills until 31st December, 2030, one of the lowest rates in the EU, which will have cost over €1 billion from the time it was introduced in May 2022, until the end of this year; — Budget 2026 left workers worse off, and handed tax breaks to those at the top; — the 9 per cent VAT rate for hospitality and hairdressing will take effect from 1st July, 2026, to support businesses in services sectors, supporting over 150,000 jobs across the country; — Budget 2026 delivered weekly welfare rate increases, benefitting approximately 1.5 million people, including pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and lone parents; — for low-income families, Budget 2026 increased the weekly rate of the Child Support Payment; and — the Government has increased the rates for the Fuel Allowance, extended it to the recipients of the Working Family Payment, and recently extended the season by four weeks, to protect those at risk of fuel poverty; recognises that: — a package worth €750 million of supports has been introduced by the Government, that has left many people still struggling to make ends meet; — rates of Excise Duty (Mineral Oil Tax) applying to petrol, auto diesel and marked gas oil (MGO) have been temporarily reduced; — the National Oil Reserve Agency levy has been reduced by 2 cent per litre of fuel, to 31st July, 2026; — the total reductions, will reduce the cost of: — petrol, by 27 cent per litre; — diesel, by 32 cent per litre; and — MGO/green diesel, by 7.4 cent per litre; — the Government deferred the planned increase in carbon tax, scheduled for 1st May, until October, to provide additional support for consumers of green diesel and other affected fuels; — to protect those at risk of fuel poverty, the Government extended the fuel allowance season by four weeks, which will result in additional payments to over a quarter of households; — in Budget 2026, Government announced that VAT on electricity and gas will remain at the lowest possible level of 9 per cent to the end of 2030, to mitigate costs and address energy poverty; — the Government increased the maximum repayment allowable under the Diesel Rebate Scheme from 7.5 cent up to 12 cent per litre of diesel, which will apply until 30th June, 2026; — these interventions have been designed to provide timely and proportionate relief, indeed, the Government's approach is underpinned by the need to balance short-term supports with longer-term objectives, including: — maintaining fiscal discipline and building fiscal buffers; — supporting continued employment growth and economic stability; — strategic capital investment and infrastructure delivery; — advancing Ireland's climate commitments and energy transition; and — strengthening energy security and resilience; — the Fuel Support Scheme for farmers is now open for applications, and a scheme for hauliers will open in the coming weeks; — the bank levy has raised €1.8 billion since 2014, with a further €200 million due in 2026; — the National Development Plan, includes the once-off receipts arising from the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling of 2024, to advance key capital projects; — the Irish economy is facing its second fossil fuel shock in less than half a decade; — fossil fuel dependence, especially imported fossil fuels, is a major economic vulnerability; — analytical work will be undertaken by the Department of Finance, to set out the key macroeconomic principles that should guide the medium-term transition towards energy independence; and — the Government has also established the National Energy Affordability Taskforce, to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses, while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability; further recognises that: — Budget 2026 left workers worse off and handed tax breaks to those at the top; — according to analysis by the Economic and Social Research Institute of Budget 2026 measures, households lost disposable income, with low-income households hit hardest; — despite clear evidence of an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the Government withdrew cost of living supports, including energy credits; — people with disabilities have been hard hit by the Government's callous decision to withdraw cost of living support, with many people with disabilities left up to €1,400 worse off; — since energy credits were withdrawn, we have seen record numbers of household unable to pay their electricity bills, and many more people struggling to keep up; — the Government measures on Excise Duty on fuel do not go far enough, with petrol, diesel, and green diesel all remaining too expensive at the pumps; — the Government has refused to cut Excise Duty on home heating oil, despite over 700,000 homes relying on this fuel source for heating; — struggling households cannot wait until next years' Budget for Government intervention; and — the State is forecast to run a surplus of €9.2 billion, €4.1 billion higher than previously projected; and calls on the Government to immediately introduce a Cost of Living Emergency Budget that will: — cut the Universal Social Charge, to put €500 back in the pockets of workers; — cut Excise Duty on fuels, such as petrol, diesel, green diesel and home heating oil; — introduce energy credits of €400 per household; and — make targeted cost of living support payments of €500 for people with disabilities, €400 for social welfare recipients, such as pensioners and people on the Working Family Payment, and a double child benefit payment.". As I have said before, we here get an opportunity to come in and repeat our single transferable speech. Unfortunately, however, that is what is necessary because this Government will not listen. I do not know how long we have been talking about the housing crisis, and I imagine everybody who is talking about engaging with people on doors or in their constituency offices or clinics cannot but see the number of people coming to them with notices to quit. They have no notion how they will afford the unaffordable rents, which were unaffordable long before the Government decided it was okay to introduce its Bill which actually hiked those rents. The Minister of State says the Government is honest. I suppose he will accept that Ireland has the most expensive electricity in Europe and around 320,000 households that cannot pay their electricity bill. How many people is that? We are probably talking about a million. One in four people cannot pay their gas bills. These are the realities that everyone else bar the Government realises are happening. There was support for those who were out on the fuel protests. Why? It was because people are annoyed and browned off - I think that is the nicest way I can put it - about a Government that is not listening and does not see their problems. Their problems at this point are many. Anybody who has tried to shop in the past while knows that they cannot rely on the prices from the week before as an indication of what they will have to pay. Inflation has nearly doubled. We are talking about a 3.6% increase, while the Government had projected 1.8%. I get that some of these circumstances are outside of the Government's control. We all accept there is a madness in the world at the moment, that Donald Trump, led by Israel, is doing what he is doing and that the Minister of State and the Government cannot control that. They can call him out, and the international community could play a stronger role in that regard, but first and foremost the Government could look after its own people. We have calls for energy credits, and not because energy credits are a solution but because they can be done here and now. Energy credits were only ever meant to be a stop-gap measure that would provide the time and place for the Government to deal with the necessary reforms, for the powers to be given to the CRU and for us to ensure we are not wedded to through-the-roof gas prices. Everyone here talks about wind power and how we would love this country to become, as we used to say, the Saudi Arabia of wind power. However, we have not seen sufficient movement over years and years in an industry in which at one time we were ahead of the game. I have to ask not about what the Government has done but about what it was forced to do by the fuel protesters. That is the reality. They had support on the street because every man, woman and child is fed up with the pressure they are under and they need support now, not into the future. That is why we are saying we need to put €500 back in workers' pockets, that is, abolish the USC on the first €32,500. That is straightforward. That is just putting money into people's pockets. We know we need to get €400 or thereabouts in electricity energy credits. The people who have always been forgotten about are those with disabilities. The Government accepts there is a need for a cost-of-disability payment. It intends to do some work on delivering it next year but it was not delivered last year. What about the people who sometimes cannot afford to eat or heat or who cannot afford to charge their electric wheelchair? We have all heard directly from people. This is not made-up anger; it is the reality of the world we are in. It is an emergency budget now that is necessary. We need to see the Government listen, watch what is happening out there and take real action.

I thank the Deputies for bringing forward the motion and using their Private Members' time to give us an opportunity to debate this important issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, will know well that Sinn Féin has been calling for emergency measures to support workers and families experiencing an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. Sinn Féin supports the call for an emergency budget. We have been calling for this for some time, and it is welcome to see other parties coming to the table to echo the call and the need for emergency measures. The Minister of State knows that we have set out what we believe needs to be done. The Government needs to cut the USC, put €500 back into workers' pockets, cut excise on fuels, introduce a €500 cost-of-disability emergency payment and a €400 social welfare payment, to include pensioners, and extend the fuel allowance by a further eight weeks. Inflation is now double what it was when the Government wrote its budget last year. Some 320,000 people are in arrears on their electricity bills. One in four cannot pay their gas. I was out canvassing last week with Janice Boylan and she spoke to a young woman in her flat. The young woman has a blow heater that she turns on occasionally because she is in a constant battle with the mould. She does not turn on her gas because she cannot afford it, though that would probably heat her home and help her in the battle with the mould. She cannot afford that so she has a small but expensive-to-run blow heater and she feels that is more manageable. The end result is that she and her kids can be cold in their home in the evening. The sun might shine during the day, but in the evening she is cold in her home with her children. She needs to turn on the heater to try to air out the house because the mould is so bad. Can the Minister of State imagine for a moment how that woman felt, while she was engaged in a battle with the mould in her Dublin City Council flat, when she read that the Lord Mayor and Deputy Buttimer's colleague, the Government representative for the local electoral area, flew first-class to California, just after he had voted to jack up her rent? The plea, certainly from us, is that if the Government cannot do something effective, something that will actually intervene in the lives of working people, if it cannot lift the burden, it should not, for the love and honour of Jesus, make it worse. I urge the Labour Party to reflect on its own vote to jack up the rent for Dublin City Council tenants in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis while they are dealing with some of the worst conditions people have to live in in this State. The Lord Mayor turned to the left when he got on the plane; unfortunately, he does not turn to the left any other time. There is a lesson in that for the Labour Party and the others that supported the call to jack up rents in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. I am not asking for any ambition because Jesus knows we are sick asking for that and there is none. The very least the Government could do is simply not make things worse. The previous junior Minister read out the greatest hits of who the Government tries to blame. It is blaming global politics. It has blamed the Opposition plenty of times. It is at that craic again. It has blamed the weather. Will the Government wake up and take a look at what is going on? There is nothing amusing about this.

I am amused at your carry-on. You have broken every rule in the book and every rule of the House so far.

Excuse me, Minister of State.

There is nothing amusing-----

You have broken every rule of the House so far.

There is nothing amusing about-----

You have broken every rule of the House so far.

-----the poverty that people are living in at the moment.

You should respect the rules.

I am on my feet.

I know you are.

The Deputy is on her feet.

Dún do bhéal, le do thoil, and perhaps listen.

Táim ag éisteacht leat. Táim ag éisteacht.

Can the clock be stopped because this is unfair on the Deputy?

Perhaps you would open your ears.

Tá Gaeilge fhlúirseach agam.

Minister of State-----

Perhaps you would listen. If you listen, you can hear. I am speaking-----

Táim ag cloisint.

-----on behalf of people who are getting crushed by a cost-of-living crisis. When they look to the Government, they see a Government that is out of touch and out of ideas. We have presented what we believe needs to be done. Others have done the same. The Government has chosen to turn a deaf ear to that. The message is being received loud and clear. This Government is telling people who are in dire straits today that they have to wait until next October, January or God knows when to get some help and support. They need that help and support now. That is why people say there is a cost-of-living crisis. The Government may not choose to recognise or acknowledge that. It can stick its fingers in its ears and refuse to hear it, but there is a cost-of-living crisis. In the few seconds remaining to me, I will speak about people with disabilities, who have seen a €1,400 cut in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. They are faced with making choices between heating, eating and charging mobility devices. These are not my words but the words of the disabled community. The Minister of State should listen to them instead of turning a deaf ear or sniggering, which helps absolutely nobody.

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this Private Member's motion. The vast majority of people recognise that we need the Government to take action to deal with the ever-growing cost-of-living crisis. The previous budget, which was introduced here last October, did absolutely nothing for ordinary people and workers. It was an example of Government spending great deals of money to deliver very little. That has been the experience of hundreds of thousands of people across the State. I listened with interest to the Minister of State's predecessor speaking about delivery and the measures that have been put in place. These measures came as a reaction to the crisis that brought people onto the streets and brought huge turmoil to the country for almost a week. Only then did Government wake up and say that it needed to do something. Even then, it only took half measures. I particularly think of the farmers and contractors. I know many people from my community who went out onto the streets to demand that something be done because the cost of living, especially the cost of energy, was putting so much pressure on so many people. While Government talks about targeted measures for the agricultural sector, claimants have to look at the amount of green diesel they used last year, put together all of the invoices and receipts for all of that, and put that in. Five months of documentation is needed. It is a complicated and convoluted way of doing it. Government should simply do what a sensible Government would do and look at bringing down the price at the pumps for everybody. Everybody uses fuel, including people going to work and families bringing children to school or who are dealing with a person with a disability and who have to take them to appointments. All of those people use fuel and nothing was done for them. Neither was anything done for people who depend on home heating oil. I know many people in my community who use home heating oil, even at this time of year. Older people and people whose houses are very cold need to use home heating oil, but Government did nothing for them. It is simply sitting back and saying that, since the sun is shining, everything is fine. It is not fine, however. People are recognising that the Government is quite prepared to leave them behind. As I have mentioned, there are also people with disabilities who are in difficult circumstances. That is who poverty kicks most, people who have extra payments to make and who face extra costs as a result of a child, elderly person or other family member having a disability. We have seen people talking about adult children with severe and profound disabilities and asking what is going to happen after their deaths. They are all looking at a future where they are going to go over a cliff edge. Government has no answers for them. The only answer Government had in the budget was to bring in tax breaks for the very wealthy and for certain sectors that were able to get the ear of Government. It goes back to the idea that if you are well connected in this country, you have made it, but if you do not, you are on your own. If we are to truly prosper and develop as a State and have a future for our children and our children's children, we need to put the resources in now. We need to invest in that future. That investment is clearly not happening. In the here and now, people are under serious pressure to pay the high costs of energy. That is why the Government needs to do something real and substantial. We need to look at the USC, which was introduced by Government as an emergency measure during the crash but which is still there and has not been taken away. We need to remove the USC for the vast majority of workers and put €500 back into their pockets. We need to look at the electricity credits that were there before. We need to reintroduce those energy credits. The Government says that would be given to millionaires and that universal payments are a bad idea. The taxation system should deal with that. Government refuses to look at that. Universal payments would benefit everyone in society but it is an easy way to get money into people's hands. However, a proper, effective and balanced taxation system could then deal with those on the wealthier end. The Government fails in this area every time.

In the statement from the Minister of State, the Government claps itself on the back for doing something over the last couple of weeks even though it had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing so. Even then, it could not get it right. Unsustainably high energy and fuel prices in this State further compound a pre-existing cost-of-living crisis that has been going on for the last number of years. We keep saying this but, cynically, when the election was over, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael introduced a budget that left people worse off. Most cruelly, people with disabilities were left €1,400 worse off. The Government dropped supports for ordinary workers and families and left people high and dry with growing food bills and rocketing electricity and gas bills. A record number of people are now unable to pay their electricity bills. Almost 320,000 households are in arrears. People are getting hit with unaffordable rents caused by really bad decisions on rental policy. We see higher mortgage payments, childcare fees, college fees and insurance prices. Inflation is higher than the Government projected on budget day. Last week, waste management companies put an energy surcharge on top of the 9% increase they introduced in January. We are being screwed by greedy companies when we pay for our heavily packaged food and now we are being screwed by those who take away that packaging. I remember the slogan from many Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors when I was on Fingal County Council. They would say that you would only pay for what you throw away. That was another lie and another trap as they commodified and privatised waste management. We would be paying through the nose for water charges if Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had got their way. We can be thankful the people stood up to them and their privatisation agenda. Supporting people is the right decision for the economy. Without intervention, we risk having the legs kicked out from under local economies as people cut back spending just to get by. People are wise to the Government and they are seeing through its nonsense and misinformation. On the one hand, the Government says we are the best little country in Europe and have surpluses every year, including surpluses of €9 billion this year and €12 billion last year. On the other hand, it is crying that money does not grow on trees and asking where the money is to be found for an emergency budget. The Government cannot have it both ways. It is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. The Government has plenty of money for bike sheds, however. We saw another grandiose bike shed come to light today. The Government needs to bring in an emergency budget. As has already been said, money must be given back to the workers. In 2016, Fine Gael promised to get rid of the universal social charge, the temporary tax that was brought in to pay the bankers and the bondholders. They got their money; they all got paid off and why? Because the Government screwed the people, the workers, in 2009 and 2010 and right the way through the austerity years. What was temporary became permanent. I know Leo is gone at the moment but that was certainly one of his promises back in the day in 2016. The universal social charge needs to be addressed. Does the Minister of State remember the electricity credits the Government was giving in the past couple of budgets, right up to just before the election and then stopped straight after the election? There is that too. I am asking on behalf of people with disabilities in particular. That was really cruel. The people who need it most are those who have disabilities, and they are €1,400 worse off. Let us talk about people getting to work. What about the ordinary person stuck on the M50, N3 or N4 trying to get into work? They are burning up fuel they are paying much more for at the pumps. Just this week we learned that Ireland has the highest energy rates in Europe. I think it is around 40% higher than most of Europe. Europe Day is coming on Saturday. We had statements on it earlier. Why do we not do what the rest of Europe is doing? Why can we not have the same price for electricity if we are all in this together? We do not because we are not all in it together. We are being screwed. Workers and families in this country are being screwed. It is time to act and act now. We cannot wait until October for the Government to deal with the crisis. People need it now.

The next slot is the Social Democrats. The Deputies have two minutes each.

First I want to mention the Northside Home Care workers. This is a group of low-paid workers, earning just above the minimum wage, who do incredibly important care work. As the Government has failed to intervene and make sure they get paid the going rate the same as HSE care workers and failed to ensure there is a sectoral pay agreement for care workers, they are a group that is particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged during this cost-of-living crisis. I urge the Minister of State and his colleagues to back them and sort them out and ensure that every care worker gets paid the same, fair going HSE rate. What sort of Government cuts the income of disabled people by €1,400? That is what the Government did in this year’s budget. To put that in context, this country, the Government, has €39 billion sitting in cash yet it decided to take €1,400 off disabled people, putting people further into poverty. It means that, for example, people who were in receipt of some of those supports who were getting dialysis at home can no longer afford the electricity bills for their dialysis and are having to go back to hospital to get dialysis every day, causing massive disruption and having a huge impact on their health and well-being. What sort of Government does that? How can its members justify that to themselves? How can they make those decisions? How, when it has the resources available to invest in targeted energy credits to lift people out of fuel poverty and invest in solar energy, does it continue to sit on its hands and not act or use the resources at its disposal to really help the people who need help the most?

People all over this country are being absolutely crushed by incredibly high electricity prices that are just going up and up. We have 317,000 households in arrears. These are people who work hard and do all the right things but just cannot manage to keep their heads about water. It really does not have to be this way. The Social Democrats have put forward a proposal for solar for all, a doubling of the grants, a battery grant for households, to include the warmer homes scheme in the solar panels scheme and to also increase supports for businesses. Solar is the solution to cut people’s energy bills. It is quick, easy and relatively inexpensive if you get sufficient grants to do so. We ask the Government to support our amendment in this regard. One area this Government has continued to ignore for some reason is the benefit and potential of plug-in solar. Plug-in solar is used by 1.5 million households in Germany and is being rolled out in the UK yet in Ireland, for some reason, we are still caught up in years of red tape when it comes to this Government trying to figure out how to legalise plug-in solar. It is a very simple technology. It is a solar panel, micro inverter and a plug. You do not need an electrician. All you need is a bit of sunlight and a socket. You can buy them in your local shops, plug them in and immediately start reducing the cost of your electricity bills. They are suitable for people in apartments and for renters. You can stick them on a shed roof or put them in your garden. They are such a fantastic technology and the fact the Government is continuing to ignore it is beyond belief considering the incredible costs people are incurring. I ask that the Government consider this proposal seriously and support the Social Democrats amendment to the motion.

Two years ago I canvassed in the local elections. One day in Harold’s Cross I knocked on the door of a man about my age. He came to the door. There were toys in the hallway and he was making dinner for his kids. I asked him what were the kinds of political issues that were on his mind and he said, “The cost of living”. That was May 2024. Two years later I think about that man, with everything that has happened since then – energy costs accelerating to the highest in Europe, punishing rental or interest rates, inaccessible childcare miles away that costs a second mortgage and the cost of goods and food, groceries and other everyday items surpassing the rate of wage growth. The core truth of the cost-of-living crisis is that for many people there was a crisis two years ago. There was a crisis when this Government and the Minister of State was elected. There was a crisis at the time when it was announcing the last budget and last January when I asked that it give disabled people a modest emergency payment after it gutted their incomes in the budget. There has been a cost-of-living crisis ongoing for months and years before the illegal war on Iran and the energy crisis it has brought about but the Government spent months and years not reacting, making poverty rates climb, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office and the CSO, allowing price-gouging to go unchecked and incentivising rents and mortgage interest rates to rise all while the richest in this country have never had it better. The Government’s actions over its time in office have failed to recognise the depth of the crisis and resulted in a dereliction of duty to those struggling. When will it recognise its obligations and take meaningful, costed, targeted and responsible measures from the Opposition such as the one in this motion to intervene in people’s lives? When will it lead? Will it take a by-election to wake it up or will it stay asleep at the wheel while the financial lives of our citizenry are left to burn?

Education is supposed to be free in this country but unfortunately this year we have seen exactly how it is not free. Books are free, which is great, but there is an ever-increasing reliance on tablets which are not free. In fact, not only are they not free, they cost between €700 and €800 each. Exam fees are being reintroduced for the leaving certificate and junior cycle exams. There was no warning about that. There was six weeks for them to be paid in. They have not been paid since before Covid by any family. In a cost-of-living crisis that was a massive surprise for those families. There is also what seems to be a now annual threat around third level fees and the failure to reduce them. We seem to have this conversation every year as young people are studying for their state exams. There are people working in our education system who are not earning a living wage. Recently the joint committee on education heard from local training initiative, LTI, workers who told us their wages were so incredibly low that they wanted to have what the community training centre, CTC, workers have even though the CTC workers are saying they cannot live on those wages and they want to get what the Youthreach workers are getting. We have a system where parents cannot afford to pay for their free education and the workers who are working in education cannot afford to live. If the Government does not recognise there is a cost-of-living crisis maybe it should take a walk down Grafton Street and turn off it. They could wait and see the people I saw last night as I was on the way home who were waiting for the soup run. One woman was lying on her side up against the wall – utterly sad and utterly cold and lonely. I thought, “Is this what we have in 2026?” This is a really rich country and people are reliant on soup runs. I pay special tribute to the Muslim Sisters of Éire who go out every single week and support people in this city. They are absolutely amazing and I really want to praise them.

Hear, hear.

The Minister of State spins a story that the Government has acted on the cost of living, but the truth is that the Government has stubbornly refused to do things within its power that could reduce the cost-of-living crisis for ordinary people. On the other hand, the Government gives away billions of euro in tax breaks to wealthy investor funds and those on the highest incomes. The Government refuses to freeze rents. Instead, it actually removed the paltry rent controls that were in place and is allowing the big landlords to increase rents even further. It promised to cap childcare fees at €200 a month and has taken no action on that. The Government refuses to implement our proposal for public affordable childcare. We have the highest electricity costs in Europe. Where is the action to tackle the price-gouging? The Government refuses to implement our proposal for targeted energy credits that could help 800,000 households. On the basic cost of food and groceries, it looks the other way while supermarkets profit and price-gouge. On the basic cost of health, ten years ago, Fine Gael promised to extend free GP care for all children under 18, yet, today, when a child turns eight, the family has to pay full GP costs. If the Government extended free GP care to children, as we proposed, to children just up to 12, it would help 200,000 children and their families and cost just €30 million a year, but it refuses to. Instead, it gives twice that amount, €60 million, in tax breaks each year to high-earning executives relocating here, earning up to €1 million. Tá daoine in Éirinn ag streachailt go mór leis an ngéarchéim costais maireachtála. Tá ardú ar phraghsanna fuinnimh agus tá cíos ró-ard. Tá a lán brú ar theaghlaigh. Tá sé an-deacair orthu a gcuid bunriachtanas a chlúdach. There is so much the Government could, and should, do to help ordinary people with the cost-of-living crisis. The question is why the Government is not doing it.

I welcome the proposals to reduce the cost of living for people. We have had a cost-of-living crisis since the end of Covid. That has escalated and it is now at crisis point. It is a serious situation and Government needs to understand that. Middle- and low-income households were never under so much pressure. Fuel, petrol, diesel, solid fuel, gas and costs are high and, as we learned today, electricity costs are the most expensive in the European Union. Rents, mortgages, house prices and waste charges are high. Health insurance does not just go up once a year anymore. It goes up two or three times, in double digits, and people are forced to pay it. Grocery prices, student fees and much more are all escalating. The combined total of all this is bringing huge pressure on ordinary, hard-working people, who cannot keep. People are in arrears with mortgages. I say all this sincerely. Rents are escalating. People just cannot pay their electricity bills. As of March, we have 320,000 people in arrears on their electricity bills. It is fair to say that that could be 400,000 now. Some 180,000 were in arrears on gas as well in March. It is safe to say that figure has escalated since. The top 10% of people in Ireland never had it so good. We must not forget that when people are paying higher prices, the money does not just disappear because the profit margins of many companies are up. The wealth of the big supermarket chains, the big hotel chains, and McDonalds continues to increase. We are looking at the transfer of wealth. Budget 2026 did not just leave behind ordinary PAYE workers and the self-employed; it actually left them worse off because of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's failure to increase tax thresholds and move the tax bands. PAYE workers and self-employed are now paying much more tax. The number of people in arrears on electricity has reached crisis point. People in rented accommodation are really struggling because rents are out of control. We know why that is. That must be addressed. We had one of the cheapest electricity systems in western Europe when it was all in public ownership, but the cost has increased since the State started to privatise it. Other reasons have been given and I accept there are other factors, but one is that because it is privatised, profit-making actions are taken by the companies generating electricity. We need to get into our heads that this has happened. Mortgages are at an all-time high because house prices are at an all-time high. I am not asking the Government to throw money around the place but we should have targeted measures. I do not agree with untargeted measures. Targeted measures need to be the name of the game. We need to look at those households that have an income under €75,000 a year. The Government should bring in a windfall tax on the large energy companies. There are good examples across Europe of where that is happening. We need to reverse the VAT cuts for the big hotel chains and the big food distribution companies such as McDonalds. We need targeted energy credits for households with income under €75,000. We urgently need a cost-of-living payment for people who are disabled because they are €1,400 worse off this year than last year as a result of the way the budget measures were done. We need to restore back-to-school funding. We need to halt the planned increase in student fees. The Government needs to adjust the tax bands. Ordinary workers, particularly workers on less than €75,000, whether self-employed or on PAYE, were left behind. We need to increase the relief on rent paid and on mortgage interest charges. I ask the Government to examine the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to see what it is about. In my time here, it has shown itself to be totally useless, and I do not say that lightly. One of the other proposals relates to solar grants. Solar energy is a quick win and easy to fit. I know it cannot be done in a day or a week but, in the medium term, we should move fairly quickly to try to do that and scale up the grants for solar, to get panels onto houses and speed up the warmer homes scheme. The waiting list is 23 to 24 months. I ask that those practical measures be taken.

I thank the Labour Party for the motion and for suggesting that we should have a mini-budget to address the cost-of-living crisis. We agree with quite a number of the measures and some were in our alternative budget. It is a fact that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. While a cost-of-living crisis is going on for working people in this country, where half a million people either are either in gas or electricity arrears and are crushed by the USC, carbon taxes, energy price hikes and food price hikes, the rich are getting richer. The year before last, there were nine billionaires in Ireland. Now there are 11. The wealth of those billionaires went up by €13 billion last year. Just 11 people's wealth went up by €13 billion. Some 1,400 people in Ireland have more than €47 million each while 20,000 people in this country have more than €4.7 million each. If we adopted a wealth tax, as Oxfam has proposed, on just that group of 20,000 people, it would raise €9 billion. Let us imagine what we could do with €9 billion for the cost-of-living breaks that working people need. There is a similar picture on profits. Profits are up 300% in the past ten years. In 2014, total profits before tax amounted to €95 billion. In 2023, they reached €318 billion. Here is the real kicker. The total earnings of every one of the 3.3 million workers in this country comes to €130 billion. That is all the wages together. How much tax do those 3.3 million workers pay on that income? Some €32 billion. What are the total profits of the 170,000 businesses in this country? Some €318 billion. It is more than twice than what all the workers earn between them. How much tax do they pay? Some €23 billion. The rich earn far more and pay far less in tax. Workers earn less and pay more between USC, excessive electricity and energy costs, carbon taxes, you name it. Profits go up for the super rich, they pay less tax and we get more billionaires, while workers are screwed to the wall with the cost of living. How do these things happen? I will give an example - rezonings. The Government is rezoning land all over the place. The value of the rezoned land is going up, from about €160,000 per hectare when it is zoned for agricultural use to €1.6 million when per hectare after it is rezoned. Actually, when the land is sold on the market we are probably talking about more like €16 million. So, overnight, somebody who owns that land and has done absolutely nothing is made a multimillionaire by the rezonings that are happening all over Dublin at the moment, courtesy of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Is that a victimless crime? No. That extra money that has gone into their pockets - millions of euro because of the votes of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and, in some cases, Green Party councillors and others - goes onto the prices of houses. That is why the prices of houses and rents are so high. That is where they get their money from. It does not come out of the sky. It comes out of the price or the rent you pay. That is how people get rich overnight. It is not magic. It is a transfer of wealth from working people who cannot afford a house or cannot afford the rents into the pockets of rich people who have done nothing except own a piece of land that has been rezoned. This week, I heard of the case of a clerical officer working in the Civil Service, who is earning €32,000 and has four children. He should be below the social housing income threshold limit but he gets family income supplement as his income is so low. If he gets this year's increment, due this summer, he will be thrown off the housing list and will not even be eligible for HAP. He is on €32,000 and has four kids. The workers get screwed; the rich get richer. That is what is happening in this country.

Bhí mé ag éisteacht le gach duine. Aontaím le go leor rudaí ach an rud nach dtuigim ná two weeks ago the Opposition was asking to collapse the Government where no financial measures could be passed and now it is asking for a mini-budget. We are in very unpredictable times and need to have a stable Government. How could any financial measures have been passed if the Government had collapsed as the Opposition wanted?

Through a new Government-----

I am asking how could the Opposition, after a general election-----

-----that the Deputy did not prop up.

I did not interrupt you, Deputy Kenny.

We were hoping for a-----

I did not interrupt you either, Deputy Sheehan. A general election would take four weeks.

I ask all Deputies to address their remarks through the Chair.

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. If there was a general election in three or four weeks, due to the count and the formation of Government, there would be a long period when nothing could be passed. Is this performative? I want to show solutions. The Government has provided €775 million but it could introduce more supports. In respect of the 2024 plug-in solar report, in a response to a parliamentary question I submitted, six key stakeholders took a negative view of plug-in solar. I have requested the consultation responses and I want to see why those stakeholders would be against a system that could be bought in a supermarket such as IKEA, Lidl or Aldi and installed at home in conjunction with an inverter battery. This would benefit people. While I welcome the SEAI grants, the return on cost and instant relief plug-in solar would deliver, particularly for people in social and affordable housing, are much bigger. I understand there are long-term returns from rooftop solar and that it is a more durable system. However, in my constituency, apartment dwellers would like to see an immediate reduction in their energy bills. If the Government invested in a giant scheme in which these systems were bought in bulk at a reduced rate, there would be energy savings. If it also gave grants to people to buy these systems, we would see an immediate reduction in bills. I will continue to work with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. I welcome the Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Buttimer, who complimented me on my work on this and are working with me constructively on it. I commend all of the Department staff who have been engaging with me because we need to move fast on this. The UK, Germany and the US are doing it and other EU countries have done it. We need to act on it. That is one of the solutions. The clearing house in the Taoiseach's Department for offshore renewable energy is welcome. However, having spoken to developers of wind energy and long duration energy storage, the people who will help us to decentralise our grid, these stakeholders need to see action. In regard to the private wires Bill, I have my own Bill which is separate from the Government's Bill. It was a huge priority for me that my Bill be considered ahead of the Government Bill because key aspects of it need to be taken into consideration for members of the public. A private wire that is installed must be proven to not have a negative effect on the domestic cost per kilowatt hour for Irish citizens. There should be a community benefit fund that is directly linked to the proportion of savings made from a private company installing the wire to the local community. There should be clear systems in place to give private households that want to install a private wire a timeline for when it can be done. This will save people money. It will bring in foreign direct investment and create jobs in Ireland. If we had a set timeline for FDI, it would be a boost for electricians, labourers, engineers and administrative staff. I understand there are people who will be critical of my Bill, on which I look forward to constructively working when it comes to the House. For cost-of-living reasons, we need to be less dependent on global fuel markets. This is where we have an opportunity to lead. As I have said before, the price of LNG rose by 23% in 24 hours. If we are looking for energy security, we need to look at what is already on our island and we can benefit from. We will not see the sun go any time because of a war in the Middle East that was not even started by our country. It was started by one of the most destructive regimes we have seen. If we rely on sources of energy that are here and will benefit the Irish people, that will make us independent. When, during the Second World War, Churchill tried to force de Valera's hand, we were energy dependent. If we were energy independent, we would become the creators and guiders of our country. We are generating renewable energy and then turning it off. We are delaying projects due to grid constraints. Why are we importing electricity when we can produce it ourselves? That is not just inefficient; it is costing the Irish people money. We need to accelerate renewable deployment and storage. The climate and energy committee, which some of the Deputies present are members of, is working constructively on that but we need action. We need to upgrade and modernise our grid. I welcome the Government announcement of funding for grid developments. However, in conjunction with that, the private wires Bill would work in parallel and create a better system. By using smarter solutions like long duration, battery energy storage systems, BESS, and demand products, we would help the cost of living, directly. We need to support local and direct energy infrastructure so that energy can be used where it is generated, thereby reducing pressure on systems and lowering costs. We need to electrify because we are a petro-state and we need to become an electro-state. Transport, heating and industry are how we should reduce our dependence on imported fuels. It is not just in Ireland; there are so many countries in the EU we can follow and this being Europe Day, we should be doing so. This is about getting electric buses, which can be put in more easily with private wires, on the roads. It is about powering homes with cheaper energy, supporting workers, creating jobs and making Ireland more competitive. We all heard the recent pronouncements on nuclear power. We need to have open discussions about technologies and I will discuss and debate nuclear power but I would love a cost-benefit analysis of nuclear and a timeframe for when it could be implemented compared to using the renewables that are here right now. Hinkley Point in the UK is showing the costs have doubled, timelines have gone over and delivery is complex. Currently, universities in Ireland are not teaching enough courses for nuclear physicists. They are not teaching enough courses for the technicians or labourers who would be working on these systems. If we do not have the workforce, we have to bring them in. While I agree with the key aspects of the development of small modular reactors, SMRs, we need to focus on what we can deliver right now. We currently have renewable projects waiting for grid connection. The Critical Infrastructure Bill and the private wires Bill in conjunction will speed up the gridlock and reduce costs. The slowing down of electrification is putting pressure on our households. While we hold the EU Presidency, we need to push for those things that we always stood for, including smarter energy systems and a shift towards cheaper electricity. I look forward to working constructively with the Minister of State. I hope this war ends soon and there will not be a need to bring in more financial measures. If we do have to, however, when we are knocking on doors in my constituency, please God may members of the Opposition be able to say how financial measures were brought in without a functioning government.

Déanaim comhghairdeas le gach Ball as a gcuid óráidí ar an díospóireacht thábhachtach seo. I thank the Labour Party and Deputy Nash for bringing the motion before the House today. It is important, in the context of the debate we are having, to make three points. I know the Opposition has to play a certain role and I appreciate that. I have been a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas for 19 years, have dealt with many of the Members here and I appreciate that. There is a commonality here because all of us are on the side of the people and the gnáthdhuine. We must accept that. Second, while I know it is a great line - the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach used it very well when she spoke to this motion - to say we are out of touch, aloof or immune or whatever, we are not. We have our life experiences and that of our families, friends, neighbours and the people we meet at our clinics and offices every day. We know full well that people are faoi bhrú, under pressure, with the cost of living. That is why this debate is important. We may disagree about the rubrics of the scaffolding by which we all move forward but let us not lose the tenet that what we are doing on this side of the House – I am speaking as a Member of these Houses for 19 years – is representing our people. There is merit in many of the suggestions we have heard today and it is our job to forensically go through them in the context of the debate we are having. That is why this debate is important. I am a former teacher. Deputy Cummins discussed education. Under the Minister, Deputy Naughton, initiatives are now under way to address educational disadvantage to help children and young people realise their potential through education. I spent most of my life teaching the leaving certificate applied programme as an adult education director. This is about the power of being able to see the investment in education, upskilling, training and reskilling in order for people to meet life’s needs. That is why there is a €48 million investment in the new DEIS strategy and DEIS plus scheme. Are we seriously saying in this House that we should not have that? Of course we are not. These measures represent a significant investment by the Government in a ten-year plan to tackle educational disadvantage and promote equality across our education system. Equally, we have seen the DEIS plus scheme advanced where we now have 181 schools in our education system being able to be supported under this scheme. This morning, I spoke with students participating in the think big programme in Stillorgan. These are wonderful young people coming together with ideas and creativity. Understandably, people are frustrated, angry and upset at the rising costs. However, if we were to have an objective analysis, which does not always suit the narrative some want to portray, it would tell us that we must be clear and responsible in our administration of public moneys. All of us are acutely aware of the energy price shock. It did not take a protest or a blockade to tell us that. That is why the Government acted. I am serious; we did not need to hear that. We knew it.

Little was done until then.

Perhaps we did not communicate it properly or engage quicker. I accept that. I am not living in an ivory tower, as I said. I accept that point. We acted to insulate households and businesses from the worst impacts of rising costs. That is why we have two packages with a cumulative cost of €750 million. It is the second highest or highest package in Europe. That budget surplus was not conjured up out of magic money. This package supports the most vulnerable through lower costs at the pump and supporting key sectors of our economy. It is great to go off and tax and spend, but what happens next October or November if we are still where we are? That is why I agree with Deputy Heneghan. Let us hope this war is over because it has only got one outcome, that is, it is negative for everybody. That is why the Government has been clear around de-escalation. Some of the propositions from the Opposition are to spend it all now, which would leave us with no buffer for the winter or anything to last us into the next couple of months. Where would we be then? Members of the Opposition would come into the Chamber and say that we were irresponsible, imprudent and did not manage the economy carefully. In that scenario, hey presto, we would have no resources on hand to budget for unforeseen shocks. As the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, said, if we were to respond to every demand asked of us, we would have no surplus and be in a far more exposed position. We would be back to the budgetary position we were in at the time of the crash between 2007 and 2010 and beyond. That is why this is important. I have great faith in people like Deputy Nash. I admire him greatly, having served with him in both Houses. He has that ability to look at the national economic dialogue and engage constructively. He was in government. He knows what it is like when there is nothing in the cupboard and when you are hiding under the cupboard to try to find a few bob. He never shirked his responsibility, nor did the Labour Party to be fair when it was in government. I will always have admiration for people in the Labour Party because when the country needed it in the tough times, the party was there. We should never forget that. My view is very clear in that regard. The budgetary economic process has begun, as we know. The priorities for the next budget are beginning to be unfurled. That is why I welcome this conversation around tax and taxation. The Tánaiste has initiated that conversation. As policymakers, there is an obligation on us, as Deputy Heneghan mentioned, to strike that balance between the competing priorities that we all rightly commend and speak for. We all represent different interest groups and people. At the end of the day, those interest groups are representing people, and we should never lose sight of that. We must strike that balance so that we can responsibly manage our public finances and invest in childcare, disability, education and infrastructure. I understand the political game. It is back and forth and sometimes, we have to try to appease, win and excite people. However, do not for one second think that those of us on this side of the House do not recognise the difficulties people face. We understand them fully. That is why we intervened. Many of us in our parliamentary parties engage with our Ministers and leaders about them. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach referred earlier to the greatest hits of the Government. This was not about the greatest hits; it was about interventions to address the impact of costs on people whom we all represent and understand. I will not list the measures introduced but people are seeing a benefit now. Are they totally immune? No. The Taoiseach said here many times that we cannot provide that blanket for everyone. What we are doing, however, is putting in place packages that reduce the rate of inflation and costs on people. Let us be clear: there are choices to be made, and those choices have consequences. The Government has been careful in its deliberation and calibration of the response. This is not a letter to Santa. We cannot write, “Dear Santa” and the wish list will be got. As we all know, someone pays the bill for Santa at the end of the day. The measures we have taken are targeted. They provide support to the most vulnerable and assist the people and sectors of our economy where there is a need for jobs, job security and growth. They are proportionate measures. I know it is not sexy or glitzy to speak about the sound management of the economy. When I think about the Ministers for Finance we had in modern times, people like Ruairí Quinn, Brian Lenihan jnr, Paschal Donohoe, Michael Noonan, Jack Chambers and now Simon Harris, and Joan Burton when she was in social protection, I often wonder how they would have reacted and what would they have done. It is about providing benefit to householders and businesses so that we can keep jobs going, we can sustain that sustainable position on our economy, and we can use our funds wisely. If we are genuinely sincere in the way in which we continue to budget and continue to manage our economy, we must have sustainability and we must be wise and prudent. I certainly do not want to go back to 2007 or 2010 when we were in this House and the Upper House. This is why the national development plan has a clear roadmap for investment. Proper budgetary planning must be done in a measured way to represent people, taking into account the pressures of today but also the longer-term perspective. I thank the Labour Party for bringing the motion before the House tonight. I believe the Government is getting the balance right. As I said in the past, it is a sensible approach to the medium and long-term budgetary position. I thank Deputy Nash for bringing the motion forward.

It is not just that the Minister of State does not get it or that individuals do not get it; I genuinely think that the Government as an entity does not get it. Consider the counter-motion the Minister of State has put forward. It is a rehash and a restatement of what the Government said it would do in budget 2026. If we want to talk about budget 2026, we can talk about the fact that it leaves families 2% worse off. That is a fact. It is not me pointing that out; it is the ESRI. We could talk about the blunt measure of the poorly targeted VAT cut with 60% of the benefit going to fast-food chains and not to struggling local cafés. That is not me pointing that out; it is the Department of Finance. For the Government to come in here with a counter-motion and to literally reprint and rehash that statement is completely laughable. It is not even funny because what the Government does not get is that the Government has lost the dressing room. Look at the anger that was out there on the streets. A Government backbencher cannot put a post up on social media at the moment about getting a hole in the road filled without an abundance of stuff underneath it because people are furious. In many cases what the Government has done with that fury is come to a house fire with a can of petrol. Let us go back to the week of the fuel protests. Monsignor Micheál Martin came out to lecture the nation followed by Colonel O'Callaghan saying that he was going to send in the tanks. It was absolutely ridiculous. I wonder if the people who come into my clinic, the people I represent, have to get their Toyota Corollas and line them up outside O'Connell Street down by the GPO in order for the Government to actually listen to them? What we have put forward is very clear. It is targeted and we have said how we will pay for it. The Government's entire budgetary policy is based on the idea of people getting a fiver at budget time but six months later they get a €500 bill. The families the workers I represent in Limerick do not need a restatement of budget 2026 from this Government. They need action on the cost-of-living crisis. Their groceries have gone up, their energy bills have gone up, their rent has gone up, and their mortgage interest rates in many cases are going up. They are working full time and yet they have sweet feck all left at the end of the week. The fact of the matter is that we know from what the ESRI has said, and from what the Department has said, that the Government's budgetary measures are not prudent. They leave families worse off on average and they hit the lowest-income earning families the hardest. Yet, the Government's counter-motion today does not acknowledge any of this. This is about political choice. We have made our choice. We back workers, we back families and we back people who are struggling. We do not partake in leprechaun economics. We have set out very clearly how we would pay for this. The people that all of us represent deserve much more from this Government than being told to just wait until October and that help is coming not now but in six months.

Within my office in the last few weeks we have been discussing the emails that have been coming in. These are from ordinary working people who are living with fear, desperation and pressure because of the cost-of-living crisis. We wonder whether the Government gets the same emails we do and whether it can be dealing with the same issues we are. If it was, the Minister of State would not be standing across from the Opposition benches pretending that everything is fine and pretending that there is nothing to see. The Minister of State would be acting on at least some of the measures that have been brought forward here today. I wonder if the Minister of State has ever lain awake wondering how he is going to get to the next pay cheque. I will tell the story of one of my constituents in Dublin Fingal West. She received a notice to quit but she was lucky, and I mean she was really lucky, to get a rental property a week before she was to go into emergency accommodation with her children and dog. She told me that she can afford to rent or she can afford to eat, so she will go without food because that means her children do not have to suffer the trauma of going into emergency accommodation, and she did not want to lose their dog. Think about that for a moment. In one of the richest countries in Europe a mother is prepared to go without food to keep a roof over her head. She felt embarrassed by this but it is not her who should feel embarrassed. The Government should feel embarrassed that in a rich country, renting a home or having a hot shower is becoming a luxury. The Government should be embarrassed that parents stand at checkout queues having to figure out what they are going to send back because they simply cannot afford it. Working people are one break away from financial disaster. Perhaps a car needs repairs, dental work needs to be done or a washing machine breaks down. Any one of those events can completely clear a family's savings. There is no safety net; just constant pressure and worry of what is going to come next. Urgent action is needed because carers, disabled people, lone parents and working people across the country are at breaking point. Where are the €200 a month fees that were promised for childcare? That was to be part of the cost-of-living package also.

In my concluding remarks I will counter one or two of the points the Minister of State made, the first being his claim that nobody likes talking about fiscal responsibility and that it is not sexy. Well, it is the kind of thing that keeps me awake at night, and the Minister of State touched on one of the reasons. In an economy that is not managed responsibly, we know there is no future for working people and there is no future for small businesses. This is why it is very difficult to sit here, take lectures and be sermonised about fiscal responsibility by the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, and by Fianna Fáil. We all know the impacts of the irresponsibility they showed 20 years ago, and the impacts this had on working families in this country. We all know the impact that their destructive policies are still having on our dysfunctional housing system today, which goes to the root of the economic and social problems we have. We in the Labour Party will not be taking lectures from the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, or anybody else in his party about fiscal responsibility. By the way, fiscal responsibility does not mean austerity, cutbacks or anything of the sort. Fiscal responsibility means good economic management allied with imaginative economic management and social initiatives that allow Governments to address the real problems society is encountering. In the last budget we saw the Government make choices that we fundamentally disagree with, and the Minister of State accepted that in his remarks. We can, thankfully, respectfully disagree. I have the height of respect for the Minister of State and the way in which he practises his politics and the way in which he represents his constituents and the country. We can, however, respectfully disagree. We fundamentally disagree with the choices that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made in the last election. There was no argument, for example, for a tax cut for the hospitality sector, which was adding jobs by the week. There was an even smaller argument, if one existed at all, for tax cuts for the development sector to supplement the bottom line of builders who were building apartments already. There was no argument whatsoever. That was done at the expense of tax indexation for PAYE workers. That is acknowledged by representatives on the Government side and is something we are seeking to address in a motion that is put forward in good faith to try to address the real concerns of working people in this country, who simply have had enough. They can no longer manage and they cannot, as colleagues have said, wait until a signal is sent in October that things might improve come 1 January when the Finance Bill is enacted. I ask the Minister of State and his colleagues to reflect on the decision to introduce an amendment to the Labour Party motion. I ask the Government to send a signal to working people in this country that it is on their side. In particular, PAYE workers rightly feel abandoned by this Government. What we are arguing for is the definition of fiscal responsibility, namely, a properly framed mini-budget rather than a drip feed of interventions worth hundreds of millions of euro based on who shouts the loudest. That is no way to manage an economy. That is not fiscal responsibility or prudence. I would ask Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents to reflect on the position they have adopted here today.

Hear, hear.

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 13 May 2026.