2026-02-05

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — a cost-of-living crisis exists in this State; — Budget 2026 was predicated on an inflation rate of 2 per cent, but it is now at 3.2 per cent; — prices have increased by 23.5 per cent in the last five years; — food prices have increased by 5 per cent in the last year; — Irish electricity prices are among the highest in the European Union (EU), 24 per cent higher than the EU average; — electricity companies have announced an average increase of 10 per cent; — gas prices have almost doubled in the last five years; — private house rents have continued to skyrocket, up 4.7 per cent year-on-year and reaching €2,100 per month in Dublin; — house prices have increased 8.1 per cent year-on-year; — council house rents have increased, including charging extra rent for person's carer's allowance; — motor insurance premiums have increased by 17 per cent; — toll charges have increased; — Local Property Tax has increased; — student fees have increased; and — childcare fees continue to be at mortgage repayment levels; further notes that: — 11.7 per cent of the population, 629,425 people, are living in poverty, including: — 190,108 or 15.3 per cent of children; — 106,385 or 13 per cent of over 65s; — 69,244 or 1 in 3 of persons with a long-term illness or a disability; and — 140,377 workers; — 298,000 households are in arrears on electricity bills; — 185,000 households are in arrears on gas bills; — according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the withdrawal of the once-off cost of living payments will increase general poverty to 12.6 per cent, child poverty to 15.6 per cent, older persons to 17.6 per cent, and decrease the annual income of the poorest 20 per cent of households by 4.15 per cent; — the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) received 260,000 requests for help in 2025, up 6 per cent on 2024; and — the SVP received 33,214 energy requests in November 2025 which was the highest ever; and calls on the Government to: — stop the price gouging of food and energy companies; — appoint an agri-food regulator to tackle rip-off food costs; — introduce price control of food, electricity, gas and fuel costs; — implement a rent freeze; — implement a living wage; — benchmark social welfare increases to the minimum essential standard of living index; — introduce a weekly cost of disability payment; — introduce the promised maximum €200 per month child-care cost and commence immediately with the creation of a public child-care service; — commence the introduction of a free public transport system; — introduce a second targeted tier of child benefit; — reinstate energy credits with the immediate payment of a €500 winter payment; and — introduce a millionaires wealth tax. There is a cost of living crisis in this State and it did not happen overnight. One's first instinct is to say the Government has lost touch with the daily living and working conditions of Irish people but that is not the case. The cost-of-living crisis that exists today is the result of deliberate Government policy. Governments make choices and this and previous Governments have made choices favouring the rich and powerful in our society to the detriment of low and middle income families. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael together have made these choices for the past ten years at least and they are responsible for the poverty, homelessness, exorbitant rents and crushing financial pressures on families trying to make ends meet on a daily basis. Prices have increased by 23.5% in the past five years. Food prices have gone through the roof, rising by approximately 5% last year. There is huge price gouging by food companies and the family shop is now costing an additional €3,000 per year over the past few years. We need price controls and a price freeze and we need an agri-food regulator to tackle the rip-off in food costs. Energy is another area of huge concern. Electricity prices in Ireland are some of the highest in Europe at 24% above the EU average. Gas prices have doubled in the past five years and we are also seeing further electricity price rises. All the main companies have announced price increases in the region of 10%. Some of them are SSE Airtricity, up 9.5% or an additional €150 per year; Bord Gáis Energy up 13.5% or an additional €218 per year; Pinergy is up 9.8% or an additional €199; Energia is up 12.1% or €200; and Flogas electricity is up 7% or €126 extra per year. These prices are hugely impinging on the financial position of ordinary families. Rents are unaffordable, up by 4.7% last year and house prices have risen by 8.1%. A teacher, garda, nurse or public servant cannot afford to purchase a house now. It is worth quoting the current edition of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, monthly newsletter, InTouch. A Sligo teacher said: I moved home in 2021, secured a permanent job and began looking to buy a house. I've been careful with savings for several years and have a decent deposit built up, but the price of homes in Sligo has skyrocketed with some one-bed new builds starting at €295k and second-hand homes regularly going for up to €100,000 over the asking price. Every year prices go higher so it becomes more impossible to buy. It seems like buying is now a dream rather than a reality. Rents have also increased significantly and the residential tenancies Bill we have just been dealing with will increase rents even further from the existing unaffordable rents to absolutely extortionate rents by way of an additional €3,000 to €3,500 per year. Council rents have also increased significantly. The fact carer's allowance is now being included for the purpose of rent determination is an absolute scandal. Carers save the State billions of euro every year - I think the figure is €20 billion - and they save the HSE huge amounts of money, yet a carer who receives a full carer's allowance of €270 per week now pays €54 of that in council rent. That is absolutely unacceptable. The Government should give instructions to local authorities to exclude carer's allowance from determinations of rent. The next issue that impinges hugely on families is motoring costs, which are a huge burden on families, particularly those living outside the major urban centres where there are, as the Minister of State will be aware, poor public transport facilities. Motoring premiums have increased by 17%. The volume of claims is down by 40%, awards are down by one third and profits are at 13%, which is double the international average. These insurance companies need to be tackled. The list goes on. What does all this mean for families and society? It means families are being driven into poverty. There are 629,425 adults living in poverty, or 11.7% of the population and that will increase to 12.6% in 2026. There are 190,108 children or 15.3% living in poverty and that will increase to 15.6% in 2026. There are 106,385 people over 65 years of age or 13% living in poverty and that will increase to 17.6% in 2026. These figures were provided by the Parliamentary Budget Office. Families and households are also under huge pressure from energy with 298,000 families in arrears on their electricity bills and 185,000 in arrears on gas bills. After budget 2026, the annual income of the poorest 20% of households will fall by 4.15%. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, SVP, sees the results of the Government's policy first hand, with 260,000 requests in 2025, up 6% and 33,204 energy requests in 2025, which was the highest number ever. I move this motion in advance of the launch of the affordable Ireland campaign. This is a campaign of civil society organisations, Opposition political parties, student groups, trade unions and many others. That group has come together to demand that the Government take real action on the cost-of-living crisis that is impacting households. The start of that campaign is on Saturday, 28 February, here in Dublin with a national protest. That protest will focus on the demand for an emergency winter payment and a cost-of-disability payment. I fully support the campaign and I call on all organisations, political parties, and the trade union movement to come out in support of it. The fact of the matter is that low- and middle-income families across this country are put to the pin of their collar to survive on a daily basis as a result of this cost-of-living crisis.

I acknowledge the awful tragedy that we saw in Dublin city centre this afternoon. I join other Deputies in expressing my horror and shock. From what we have seen, we know there has been one fatality and up to three people seriously injured in this event. Our thoughts are with them, their families, the first responders and those in our city's hospitals who are doing everything they can for them. I thank Deputy Healy for tabling this motion and for the opportunity to speak on it. With so many competing issues of real national importance, it is critical that we take every chance we have to focus on an issue that cuts across so much and affects almost everyone, but of course impacts on people with the least means the most. The rising cost of living has been one of the most challenging hallmarks of this decade. So many people and families have been left in a deeply precarious situation following the inflation crisis of recent years. I want to use my limited time to focus on two significant areas of real cost pressure for people, which are food and energy, while of course acknowledging that there are many more. On energy, we have to ask why Irish energy wholesale costs are so much higher than in other European countries. When we look at it, we see that the costs are largely a factor of the kind of fossil fuel that is used. In our case, that is gas. It was the main driver of Irish wholesale electricity costs shooting up in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine and still today accounts for a sizeable proportion of the ultimate household costs. It is clear that, had we not had substantial growth in renewables, even with the grid management costs that come with them, Irish household energy costs would today be far higher. I know that is little comfort to people who are already struggling, but this demonstrates the value in driving further forward to bring renewables online to enhance our ability to withstand global energy shocks that we know will be experienced again in the future. As the Minister of State knows, 1 March is the date on which a new regime will come in affecting residential tenancies, which we have spent much of the last two hours discussing. Part of that law will increase security of tenure, with six-year tenancies encouraging longer terms in what the law says will be more stable living situations. Is it not now the right time to come forward with additional supports on the energy side, with retrofits for renters? If rent costs are going to be reset and increased to market rates, why not take some measure to make the overall cost of renting cheaper while enhancing our building stock and reducing emissions from the housing sector? Deputy Healy's motion rightly focuses on the severe impact on households of grocery inflation, which at the end of last year hit its highest level in two years, lasting well beyond the immediate shock of the inflation crisis and persistently driving up costs for families. Last month's consumer price index shows that food prices were up 3.9%, with unprocessed foods up a staggering 5.8%, but, again, prices in Ireland, for a combination of reasons, are higher than they are on the Continent, at almost 110% of the EU average according to Eurostat, the third highest in the European Union. People see this in their shopping baskets, especially with meat, dairy and coffee, but we do not see tailored solutions that recognise the unique combination of factors that hit Irish consumers. Targeted cost-of-living supports focused on essentials like groceries would go a long way in helping some of the hardest hit families here. The climate crisis is a giant cost-of-living crisis. The most vulnerable will always be impacted the most. If we do not put in place the help to support people to make choices that break that cycle of dependence on consumer goods and services that are always open to volatile pricing, people will forever be stuck in this doom loop of ever-rising costs. Those are hard choices to make in the present but they make for a far cheaper and healthier future for all. Speaking of retrofit supports, solar panel grants, electric vehicle grants, sustainable farming supports, childcare supports, and targeted cost-of-living measures, it is all connected, and one smart intervention begets another. These were the guiding principles of our party while in government and it is something we have seen precious little of since. I urge the Minister of State and the Government to look at this approach and to reconsider the consumer pays all approach we have seen adopted in the last year.

I thank Deputy Seamus Healy for tabling this excellent motion. People Before Profit obviously fully supports it. Next week, though it was supposed to be today but was cancelled because of the orange weather warning, Seamus, People Before Profit, Sinn Féin, other left Independents, the Social Democrats and the Labour Party will be launching the affordable Ireland campaign. That is a campaign that will be launched together with, supported by and involved with a broad coalition of disabled people's organisations, trade unions, students unions like Aontas na Mac Léinn, civil society groups, the Irish Wheelchair Association, the Disability Federation of Ireland, Unite the Union, Postgraduate Workers' Organisation, the Irish Traveller Movement, the National Women's Council, the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, and the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament. What unites us is a determination to make Ireland affordable. We all deserve a country we can afford, not this rip-off republic, and not a society that caters for the wealthy but leaves everyone else struggling to put food on the table and keep the heat and lighting on. The affordable Ireland campaign has six very simple demands. They are to cut energy costs by introducing energy credits and abolishing standing charges; to cut and control grocery prices; for above-inflation pay, social welfare benefits and pension rises, including finally introducing a living wage; for an emergency payment for disabled people and carers and a permanent cost-of-disability payment; to abolish fees for public services, including college, childcare, health, and general practitioner care; and, finally, to freeze and cap rents and build public housing. We will be on the streets for the first time, as Seamus mentioned, with a focus on the call for an emergency payment for disabled people and carers on Saturday, 28 February, at 1 o'clock in Parnell Square. The last couple of weeks, or any week that one pays attention to, to be honest, tell us a lesson. This week, we have the rip-off rents Bill. Last week, we had the Social Democrats' motion for an emergency winter payment for disabled people shamefully voted down by the Government. The lesson is that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry lackey Independents who prop them up will not do any of this unless we force them to act. The launch of the affordable Ireland campaign recognises the fact that this right-wing Government will only take action on the cost-of-living crisis if it is forced to do so. Left to their own devices, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the right-wing Independents will do nothing to make Ireland affordable. In fact, they will do the exact opposite. That is what the rip-off rents Bill is about. It is about deliberately increasing rents even faster than the already unaffordable rents that we have. That is what the attacks on the poorest in society and disabled people in the budget were about. They are making it harder for ordinary working class people to have a decent life. They will hike up rents for council, approved housing body and housing assistance payment tenants, and now for every private tenant too. They will roll out the red carpet for data centres, which means driving up electricity costs for everybody else. The only way ordinary people's bills are going is up. Further increases to regressive standing charges are planned to fund the expansion of the grid for data centres. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities' price review 6, published before Christmas, allows for charges for householders to go up by 28% and costs for data centres to go down by 20%. It proves the inextricable connection between the Government abandoning even a verbal commitment to climate action and the legal targets it has signed up to and making ordinary people pay the price for the cost-of-living crisis. Real climate action and cost-of-living action go hand in hand. It is the same with rents. Ordinary people pay more so that landlords and big business can make more profits. Our loss is their gain. The Government acts like Robin Hood in reverse - stealing from the poor to give to the rich. It is not because it does not have the money. The Government had more than enough money in the budget to give hundreds of millions of euro in tax breaks to landlords, developers, fast food chains and Google, which walked in the front door of the Department of Finance, had a meeting with the Minister for Finance and said it wanted an increase in the research and development tax credit. It was a case of "a benefit of €300 million for us, yes no problem" in the same budget where the Government cut incomes for ordinary people. The Government never has enough. It is always hard choices for ordinary people with never enough to ensure they can afford to live unless, of course, an election is coming and the Government wants to buy people's votes with a few one-off cost-of-living payments. There is an unprecedented budget surplus for the Government but at the same time, the Oxfam wealth report shows the rich in this country are getting richer while the rest are getting poorer. Eleven Irish billionaires have the same wealth as 3.5 million Irish adults. That is obscene and yet the Government refuses to even consider a wealth tax. All of it is enraging, all of it is unfair and all of it is unjust but all of it will continue unless we stop them. That is why we have to mobilise with the affordable Ireland campaign.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — the Government is acutely aware of, and concerned about, the impact of rising prices on Irish households, and it is also aware of the high cost of energy prices and the wider impact of the cost of doing business for firms, particularly small firms; — in relation to Irish households, the Government has already taken the following measures; — €28.9 billion will be spent on social protection in 2026, including over €1.15 billion of new measures targeted to assist the most vulnerable in our society with the cost of living; — the supports provided in the budget package helps vulnerable households with the cost of energy bills, such as an increase in the Fuel Allowance scheme and extended eligibility to recipients of the Working Family Payment (WFP); — the increase of €10 in weekly social welfare primary payments is equivalent to approximately 4.1 per cent, and for pensions the increase is about 3.5 per cent, both above the rate of inflation; and — these increases follow on from the increase in payment rates in Budget 2025 that were also above the rate of inflation; recognises, with regard to disability: — that a Strategic Focus Network Summit on the Cost of Disability is being organised by the Department of Social Protection, and will involve disabled people and their advocates, as well as other Government Departments'; and — a public consultation process on how a cost of disability can best be delivered will be launched shortly; further notes, a second targeted tier of child benefit is being examined as a possible approach to reduce child poverty, but existing schemes like the Child Support Payment and the WFP are also available to achieve this end; further notes, in relation to energy prices, that: — Ireland has the twelfth highest electricity prices among the European Union (EU)-27, when adjusted for purchasing power parity according to Eurostat (H1 2025), and in nominal terms, Ireland ranks fifth for household electricity prices and eighth for gas prices among EU states; — electricity and gas markets in Ireland are commercial, liberalised, and competitive, the position of successive Governments is that competitive energy markets result in greater choice for consumers and businesses, in terms of suppliers, products and prices, and price setting by electricity suppliers is a commercial and operational matter for the companies concerned; — retail prices are influenced by several factors, including wholesale energy prices and supplier hedging, in Ireland, our long-standing reliance on fossil fuels, specifically gas, for electricity generation, has been a driver of higher energy costs, and furthermore, our geographical isolation, dispersed population, fossil fuel dependency and small market scale also influence prices and drive costs; — the Government has introduced a suite of measures over recent years to help households and businesses deal with the rising cost of energy, including €1,500 in electricity credits to all households through four Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Schemes, at a cost of €3.3 billion, this is in addition to one-off payments to support certain social protection payment recipients; and — the Government provides support for households through schemes, including, the Fuel Allowance, the Household Benefits Package and the Additional Needs Payment; affirms that: — as part of Budget 2026, the Government took action and provided significant supports to enhance energy affordability, including: — an increase to the Fuel Allowance as well as broadened eligibility for the payment; — an extension of the reduced Value Added Tax rate of 9 per cent, which is applied to gas and electricity to 2030; — a continuation of the €400 income tax disregard for certain profits arising from the micro-generation of electricity for a further three years to end 2028; and — an extension of the Accelerated Capital Allowances scheme for energy efficient equipment for businesses to 2030; — the Government is committed to taking decisive action to provide warmer, more comfortable homes, as part of our drive to support energy affordability, security, and sustainability, with over 60 per cent of total Government expenditure on residential retrofit over the period 2022-2025 was on homes at risk of energy poverty; — following approval at Cabinet last week, the Government has published a National Residential Retrofit Plan and an enhanced set of measures to increase the delivery and affordability of home energy upgrades, these measures will continue to make home energy upgrades more accessible and affordable and support more homes to be more sustainable and energy-efficient, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and lowering energy costs for households; — a record capital allocation of €640 million has been provided for Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland residential and community energy upgrade schemes this year, and a further €140 million has been provided for the Local Authority Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme; — the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) continues to have a range of customer protection measures in place including, a moratorium on disconnections for vulnerable customers, protections for those on financial hardship meters, minimum debt repayment periods and promotion of the vulnerable customer register; — the Government has also established the National Energy Affordability Taskforce (NEAT) 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 the NEAT Interim Report 2025 was published last November with an Energy Affordability Action Plan to be published in Q3 this year; — under the auspices of the NEAT, the CRU will lead on the Programme for Government commitment to 'commission an independent review into the speed and level of passthrough from wholesale prices to retail prices, with an additional assessment of the overall price dynamics and an overall focus on the competitiveness of the Irish economy'; — while electricity credits previously played an important role, it should be noted that, despite costing in excess of €3.3 billion, this measure did not permanently reduce the cost of electricity nor are they fiscally sustainable, therefore, the Government has prioritised measures which reduce energy costs in the long-run such as the €3.5 billion investment in Ireland's electricity grid infrastructure as part of the National Development Plan; and — the range of supports that were included in Budget 2026 are in line with the movement away from one-off measures, towards permanent supports with funding also provided to address structural issues such as retrofit and infrastructure; and in relation to the cost of doing business, notes that arising from the wider inflationary trends, Government has taken action to address fiscal and regulatory issues, including: — through the establishment of the Cost of Business Advisory Forum (the Forum), June 2025, and the publication of the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, September 2025; — both of these actions deliver on the Programme for Government commitments to support small business, enterprise and industries and to develop Government policy which focuses on the economic areas that fall within our domestic sphere of influence; — the Forum's purpose is to critically examine issues that can lead to higher costs for business in Ireland and review associated regulatory and infrastructural issues that merit a changed approach, at present, there are 24 member organisations who represent a broad section of Ireland's enterprise sector, including, Small and Medium Enterprises and Multinational Corporations, who regularly contribute to the work of the Forum, alongside active engagement and dialogue with a variety of State Agencies, Regulators, and Government Departments; — the Forum members adopted a comprehensive thematic workplan in June, 2025 and since then have met to consider a series of themes: — Energy Costs and Security of Supply; — Insurance Costs; — Planning and Infrastructural Delivery; and — Water Services and Wastewater; — there are a number of remaining meetings scheduled for Q1 2026, and these will focus on legal costs and regulation, reporting and compliance; — the Forum is in the process of drafting the final report, with an indicative date to present the report to Government in Q1 2026; — also in August 2025, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) published an update to its 2023 high-level analysis of the grocery sector in Ireland, this analysis confirms that, while food prices have increased significantly in recent years in Ireland, competition is working effectively in the Irish grocery retail sector, notably, food price increases have generally remained below the EU average, which coincides with increasing competition in Ireland; and — the grocery retail sector remains a key market for the CCPC and it will continue to monitor and review the sector on a regular basis; and finally, in relation to the National Minimum Wage: — since 2020, an increase by 40 per cent, from €10.10 to today's rate of €14.15 an hour, following a €0.65 increase in Budget 2026, which amounts to an increase of 4.8 per cent; — in 2025, the minimum wage increased by over 6 per cent, following a significant uplift of 12 per cent, or €1.40 in the previous year; — these increases were and are well ahead of inflation and projected wage growth and have brought about substantial real wage growth for the lowest paid workers in our economy; and — our current rate of €14.15 an hour means that Ireland has the second highest minimum wage in the EU, second only to Luxembourg, and among the highest in the world, when adjusted for purchasing power standards, we have the fifth highest minimum wage in the EU.". I express my deepest sympathies to those affected today in such a tragic event. My heart goes out to the families affected and those who were seriously injured. I also acknowledge all the first responders who worked at the scene I am pleased to be here to discuss a Private Members' motion that attempts to address a number of issues to do with the cost of living in Ireland. The Government opposes this motion. I assure the House that the Government is acutely aware of the impact of rising prices and costs on Irish households and businesses. Our proposed amendment to the motion will confirm this. The areas raised in the motion are complex. We have to make sure that we do not do anything that might harm employment opportunities or have any unintended consequences for investment. I will set out tonight the progress the Government is making in tackling prices and the areas raised in the motion. The proposals in the motion are wide-ranging and extremely diverse cutting across several Departments. It addresses so many areas and issues that I cannot hope to cover them all in any depth this evening but I will do my utmost to address several of them. At the outset, it is important for me to highlight the performance of the Irish economy over the past few years. The economy has proven to be remarkably resilient in the face of a series of unprecedented shocks from Brexit to the pandemic to the war in Europe. Furthermore, the geopolitical environment has perhaps never been as uncertain and turbulent as it is today. Despite all of this, our economy has continued to grow and thrive with record numbers of people in work - over 2.8 million people went to work this morning - and record rates of labour market activity. Today's labour market numbers confirmed this. The unemployment rate in January of this year stood at 4.7%. Incomes have risen and continue to rise while inflation has fallen and is expected to remain at close to 2% this year. Nonetheless, several of the issues raised in the motion centre on prices and costs. We fully acknowledge the challenges posed by high inflation and high costs for our consumers and the enterprise sector. I also accept that inflation hits the least well-off the hardest. That is why the Government has been so proactive in introducing cost-of-living packages and attempting to ease burdens on households and businesses. While the annual rate of inflation last year averaged 2.1%, which is down from a peak rate of 8.1% in 2021, we have seen food prices as a source of inflationary pressure. This is reflecting market conditions, an integrated supply chain and prices for agricultural inputs such as fuel, feed and fertiliser. It is important to note that food price inflation averaged 3 9% in 2025, which is down from 9.8% in 2023. On the issue of energy costs and prices, it is the case that a suite of measures was introduced in recent years to help households and businesses deal with the rising cost of energy. This included €1,500 in electricity credits to all households through the emergency costs benefit scheme at a cost of €3.3 billion. This universal measure provided valuable on-bill support to nearly 2.3 million households. While previously, electricity credits played an important role, this measure at a cost in excess of €3.3 billion is neither fiscally sustainable nor did it provide long-term benefit. As part of budget 2026, the Government took action and provided significant supports to enhance energy affordability, including an increase to the fuel allowance, as well as broadened eligibility for the payment; an extension of the reduced VAT rate of 9%, which is applied to gas and electricity to 2030; a continuation of the €400 income tax disregard for certain profits arising from the microgeneration of electricity for a further three years to the end of 2028; and an extension of the accelerated capital allowances scheme for energy-efficient equipment for businesses to 2030. The CRU continues to have a range of customer protection measures in place, including a moratorium on disconnections for vulnerable customers, protections for those on financial hardship meters, minimum debt repayment periods and promotion of the vulnerable customer register. The Government also prioritised measures that reduce energy costs in the long run such as the landmark €3.5 billion investment in Ireland's electricity grid infrastructure approved by the Government in July 2025. This represents the largest single investment in the country's electricity network in the history of the State. A record capital allocation of €640 million has been provided for SEAI’s residential and community energy upgrade schemes this year. A further record allocation of €340 million has been committed to the warmer homes scheme, which provides fully-funded energy upgrades for low-income homes at risk of energy poverty. While I have just outlined specific supports that were introduced as part of budget 2026 in response to concerns about energy costs and prices, I welcome the opportunity to discuss the wider social protection elements of this important aspect. This year, the Department of Social Protection will spend €25.9 billion in social welfare expenditure supporting pensioners, carers, people with disabilities, jobseekers and families in every parish across our country. This expenditure will make a real difference to communities across the country. Over €1.15 billion of this sum is for new measures. At the heart of these new measures are across-the-board social welfare increases effective from last month to our pensioners and people of working age with core rates increasing by €10 - a level that more than matches inflation. The increase of €10 in the standard rate is equivalent this year to about 4.1% compared with the CSO’s latest annual inflation rate of 2.8% to December. For pensioners, the increase is about 3.5%, which, again, is ahead of inflation. These increases follow on from the increase in payment rates last year that were also above the rate of inflation. The measures contained in budget 2026 were designed to support the most vulnerable in our society. The budget package included the largest child support payment increase in the history of the State for primary social welfare recipients bringing the total annual value of the child support payment to €3,016 for each child under 12 and €4,056 for each child aged 12 and over. A second targeted tier of child benefit is being examined by the Department of Social Protection as a possible approach to reduce child poverty but existing schemes like the child support payment and the working family payment are also available to achieve this end. The Department of Social Protection is currently developing a successor strategy to the roadmap for social inclusion, which is the national poverty reduction strategy, for the period from 2026 to 2030. With regard to the disability sector, I assure the House that improving outcomes for disabled people is a top priority for this Government. Our determination to achieve this is reflected in the key programme for Government commitment to introduce a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment. That will be provided through a dedicated disability unit that has been established through the Department of An Taoiseach. Progress will also be monitored and driven by the Cabinet committee on children, disability and education. We know that addressing the cost of disability is not a question of income support alone. The delivery of, and access to, services are important and key to this. It is also important to highlight the Government's continuing commitment to fair wages for the lowest paid workers in our economy, and we have seen real progress made by raising the national minimum wage in recent years by way of substantial increases. Since 2020, the national minimum wage has increased by 40% from €10.10 to today’s rate of €14.15 an hour, the second highest in the EU. Over the past number of years, these increases in the minimum wage were well ahead of inflation and have brought about substantial real wage growth for the lowest paid workers in our economy. With regard to some of the other motions around wealth tax, we do have a number of cases where wealth in Ireland is taxed. There is capital gains tax, capital acquisitions tax, local property tax and certain forms of stamp duty for property and shares for those who are in impacted. In conclusion, in the short time I had, I tried to highlight some of the areas raised by the Deputies. The Government is making very real progress in addressing the cost of living challenges. We are acutely aware of issues around rising prices on Irish households and our policies are very much focused on the data we have, notwithstanding the series of very challenging external developments.

The Minister of State listing off the crumbs that were given out by the Government to those who are being crushed by the cost-of-living crisis is utterly meaningless. I thank Deputy Healy for bringing forward this motion, which People Before Profit strongly supports, as it details the absolutely crushing assault on the cost of living for working people, the least well-off, people with disabilities and pensioners. Prices are up 23% in the past five years. Food prices are up 5% in the past year. Electricity prices are 24% higher in this country than the EU average. Electricity companies announced 10% increases just in the past year. Gas prices have doubled in the past five years. The average rent in Dublin is now €2,100 per month and rising. It is set to rise even further with the Government's residential tenancies rent hike Bill. House prices are up 8.1%. Rents have gone up 40% in the past six years. Motor insurance premiums are up 17%. Toll charges are up. Local property tax is up. Student fees are up, and childcare fees still continue to be a second mortgage for those who have to pay them. I could go on. People are being crushed and it is not just us saying it. The Parliamentary Budget Office confirmed that the Government's budget made things worse and that general poverty will increase as a result of the budget. Child poverty will increase to 15%, poverty among the elderly will increase to 17% and the poorest 20% of the population will see their incomes fall. We have record numbers of people contacting the Society of St. Vincent de Paul looking for assistance with the energy bills they cannot pay. Child poverty is at shocking levels with 190,000 children suffering child poverty. Some 298,000 people are in arrears with their electricity bills. I could go on with the horrible list. That is a litany of what is being done to working people and people with disabilities, who lost, according to their own assessment, €1,400 as a result of the cuts in one-off payments, emergency payments and so on. This is the reason they are going to be on a very angry demonstration on 28 February. Due to the Government's failure to deliver a cost-of-disability payment, they are going to be on the streets demanding the winter payment and demanding a cost-of-disability payment. Incredibly, the Government took €1,400 of them in the budget, which is absolutely shocking. What is the other side of the coin to these attacks on the vulnerable, the least well-off and working people? It is a profits bonanza. Between 2013 and 2023, corporate profits in this country went up 300%. Tesco profits last year were €185 million, up 54%. SuperValu profits were €134 million last year, which was up on previous years and big dividends were paid out the shareholders. ESB profits in the first half of 2025 were €424 million, which was up on the previous year that was also a record level of profits. Cairn Homes recorded €150 million in profits, up 32% on the previous year. Glenveagh Homes had €132 million in profits, up 86% on the previous year. The cost-of-living misery suffered by working people, by pensioners, by those with disabilities and by students is being caused by a Government that is prioritising the profits of people who are actually benefitting from all this. For example, in the budget the Government gave out €300 million extra in just one tax giveaway for research and development, most of which will go to massively profitable multinationals. These are the priorities of this Government. It is to look after the rich, big business and those who make profits and whose incomes are made from dividends, while screwing working people, the least well off, people with disabilities, students and the vulnerable in our society. That is why we say that we need to mobilise and why the demonstration on 28 February is so important. It is also only the beginning of Affordable Ireland's campaign to mobilise against this Government and to demand that the benefits of the economic growth in this country in terms of housing, food and energy prices, as well as incomes that actually sustain a decent standard of living for people become the priority.

I welcome this motion and thank Deputy Healy for bringing it forward. It is timely. Personal debt is up. Nearly 300,000 households are in arrears with their electricity bills. Profits are up massively, as has been outlined. Private health insurance has gone out through the roof. The motion outlines a number of serious measures that need to be taken. I want to add the issue of private health insurance. Unfortunately, people, particularly the elderly and those who have health issues, have to take it out. Costs have escalated in recent years. They are not going up once a year, not twice, but three times a year. In the past 12 months, VHI have increased premiums on three occasions. Laya has ramped up prices. All of them have ramped up prices. One Laois couple, who are 81- and 82-years-old, have seen their policy go up to €4,506.66 per annum. They live on one pension. She is an adult dependant, and it is their only form of income. They have the most basic cover. All they have is the minimum. They are terrified to let it lapse because both have health issues. A sum of €4,500 per annum is not affordable for pensioners who are just on a single State pension. They couple in question are in a very difficult situation. They have to pay rent, heating, electricity, shopping and home repairs. It will really cause financial hardship. There is a copy of their demand, which they shared with me. We are supposed to moving to universal healthcare, under Sláintecare. We have a year or so left to go in this, but we have made snail's pace progress. I accept that Covid-19 held it up for a year or so, but we are still nowhere near where we should be. We need to get Sláintecare, which is a universal public health system, in place. We are way behind the rest of Europe. Health costs are putting a huge burden, on top of the things outlined here in the past half an hour, on top of households and particularly vulnerable people. We need equal access to treatment regardless of ability to pay. It has to be based on medical needs alone. We are completely out of step and in the Dark Ages compared with the rest of Europe, including countries that are much poorer than us. We need to get that in place and move forward as quickly as possible to it. I want to mention something in support of one big measure in the motion. I refer to the extra costs of disability. The basic payment is at €232 a week. It is much lower than the poverty threshold, which is deemed to be at €291. There are significant extra costs for people with disabilities. Last year - when I say last year, I refer to the budget of October 2024, when we were on the cusp of an election - there was €400 extra in a cost-of-living payment for disability. There was €300 extra in fuel allowance in one payment alone. The living alone allowance was up €300. Electricity credits were up €200 each time. There was €230 extra on the basic Christmas bonus. Last October, there was no election but there were no increases like this. Zero. They all came and went but the expenses that people have are still the same. In fact, they have actually gone up because of the rate of inflation, particularly for essentials - and this is the key point - like food, heating, electricity, health insurance and health costs, which people should not have to pay. There are very basic measures called for here, including to implement a rent freeze - the Government is going to the do the opposite on 1 March, which is terrible - or implement a living wage. Introducing a cost-of-disability payment is key. Also, we need to speed up the implementation of Sláintecare and get a public health system. Energy credits should be reinstated, particularly for low-income households. The Government should not shy away from taxing the billionaires. The billionaires have the cash. Other countries do it. We need to take a bit of it off them and give it to those people who are at the bottom end. All the statistics show that the gap between those at the bottom and those at the top has widened. We cannot continue going like this. We cannot have a situation like America. We have to have a fairer society like the rest of Europe. That is what we need here and I ask the Minister of State to withdraw the amendment and support this motion.

I will begin, as others have, by expressing my condolences in regard to the person who lost their life in the awful tragedy, the accident on Talbot Street today. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the deceased. We wish those who are recovering a speedy recovery in hospital. It was a terrible tragedy this afternoon. I also thank the Deputies involved in bringing forward this motion because Government has failed to end the rip-off and get prices under control. To make matters worse, it brought forward a budget that left people worse off. It claimed prices were stabilising and things were getting better. That is how it justified abandoning ordinary workers in this year's budget to look after those at the top. That is how it justified pulling cost-of-living supports like energy credits and disability payments. It is how it justified handing out all the tax breaks to investors and developers, giving nothing to workers. Prices have not levelled off. Inflation is 50% higher than the Government forecast on budget day. Its projections that it built its budget on now look like wishful thinking. We are now seeing prices going up and up, totally out of line with targets and what we see in other European countries. Despite all of this, the Government has dug in its heels and refused to act. It is still turning a blind eye to the fact that people are working every hour God sends them and still cannot keep up. People have been left struggling through the winter months by a Government that refuses to help. Inflation figures do not come close to showing the real pressures people are under. Food price hikes are still racing ahead of general inflation in a way that cannot continue and ordinary workers and families are getting crucified. They are hit hardest because they spend a large share of their wages just trying to put food on the table. Parents trying to keep and feed their families on modest wages are drowning and this Government looks the other way. Energy prices are completely out of control. Ireland has gone from being one of the cheapest for electricity to being one of the most expensive. Hundreds of thousands of people right now are behind on their energy bills and it seems the Government does not care. More than that are able to barely just keep up and are trying not to fall into arrears. This was all because there was no election. The Government pulled energy credits even though bills were higher this year than they were the year before and more people than ever are struggling but the Government did not care. Insurance costs are through the roof. Car, home and health insurance - you name it, it has gone up. What else has gone up? Bank profits, developer profits, insurance profits and large supermarket profits. They are all raking it in. Both the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the European Commission have told us that corporate profits drive inflation but this Government does not want to know. The Government looks at corporations making record profits and gives them bigger tax breaks, all while ordinary people pick up the tab. The reality is that things are getting worse and people are under more pressure than ever. They are still being crucified by energy bills, food prices, insurance and childcare. The list goes on and on and people at home know it. The Government needs to show some humility and admit that it got this badly wrong. More importantly, it needs to wake up to reality and bring forward a cost-of-living package. Right now, the Government is just refusing to help. It is not just refusing to help; it is actively making things worse and harder on people. Instead of supporting people, it has made things worse. It is jacking up rents, increasing college fees, hiking taxes on family homes and increasing the cost of home heating oil, petrol and diesel. The list goes on. Any Government with a serious intent of protecting people from inflation has to do three things. The first is do no harm. It should not make things worse through Government action. Second, Government needs to do its job and tackle price gouging; reform electricity pricing; mandate large supermarkets that operate in Ireland to report their profits; take on the banks and insurance companies; support my legislation that would ensure transparency; cap rents; and stop vulture funds snapping up properties ahead of families. These are just some of the proposals we have put forward and we can give the Government many more. Third, the Government needs to put in place supports. That means bringing forward a cost-of-living package because people should be able to expect that in the face of a cost-of-living crisis, when the Government has the resources in the form of billions of their euro, the Government will step in and help. I will say it again: the Government should admit that it got it badly wrong and what it needs to urgently do is end the price gouging, get costs under control and, crucially, bring forward a cost-of-living package without delay.

As others have, I want to express my sincere condolences to those impacted by the serious tragedy on Talbot Street. I also want to say a word to commend the emergency services. They never know what they are going to see when they come into work in the morning but they still turn up, so they deserve all of our thanks. I want to address some of the remarks made by the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, in his opening statement. Some of this stuff would be funny if it was not so serious. He referenced "sustainable" increases in the minimum wage. Sustainable for who exactly? Sustainable for employers, perhaps, or sustainable for business because it sure as Jesus is not sustainable for workers living on the minimum wage. Their wages are not going up anywhere near as fast as food or energy inflation. In fact, they are running behind just trying frantically to catch up. The Minister of State also confirmed that this Government has completely abandoned the living wage. It talked a lot about it but then when I thought about it, I asked myself when it was that the Government talked about it. Yes - it was just before the election. The same as all of its pre-election promises, like snow on a ditch, it is gone. There is no living wage for workers. It has been pushed right out, way beyond the term of this Government. In fact, there is arrogance in this Government's claim that it will somehow be re-elected and that at some point, we will get the sunny uplands of the living wage. Nobody is fooled by that, by the way. It is very clear in the Minister of State's script, which he diligently read out and every word of which he stuck to, that there will be no living wage. What is the living wage? It is the minimum amount that a person needs to live on. That is the living wage and that is gone. The Government just sanctioned a fairly hefty pay increase for the head of Uisce Éireann. He is nowhere near the living wage and he is still getting an increase. He could not spend in ten lifetimes all the money that he has. He will get a pay increase but people who are on the minimum wage have to be content with those sustainable increases, as the Government referred to them. The Minister of State also did not address the unaffordable cost of childcare because, again, that is one of those things those in government say when they are running for election. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon will remember that his party leader could not pass a microphone back in October-November 2024 without reminding people of their commitment to introduce within 100 days of government a plan for €200 per week childcare. What happened to that? Again, all the pre-election promises are gone like snow off a ditch because they are in now and they do not care. We totally understand that. The Government has taken €1,400 off disabled people. Those are not my words; they are the words of disabled people. What was the response of the Government? The Minister, Deputy Calleary, said it was misleading and dangerous - he was very concerned - to suggest that people are choosing between heating and eating. Disabled people came to the audiovisual room - I did not see too many Government representatives there – and told us that there are days when they have to make a very real choice between the groceries and energy they need and the bills they must pay. I hope that when the Minister of State comes to read out his script, he might scribble a bit at the end and express a little bit of shame about that. That is €1,400 the Government took from people who are struggling just to exist. The Government is trying to do the same kind of thing that it did with the students when it jacked up the fees by €500 and then told everyone that somehow that was cut. People are not stupid. They have to manage their own finances. They have to balance their own books. They have to get themselves to the end of the week. They see what the Government is doing. They see you for who you are. They have memories that go back to November 2024 and all of those promises and they see them now gone - absolutely gone. One in five workers in this State today is classified as being in poverty. That is nothing to be proud of in a State where there are surpluses that run to billions and pay increases available to very well-off CEOs because obviously they have to be shielded from any cost-of-living crisis, but for the people on the front line of the Government’s policies, the people who will have to pay those higher rents when it rams its rent hike Bill through, there will be no pay increases for them, no big bonuses, no bonanzas, nothing like that. They will be told to make do and mend. They are gaslit by the Minister for Social Protection telling them their own lived reality is not true. They spoke very clearly. The people with disabilities said it. They are making a choice between heating and eating as a direct result of Government policy. It was hurtful and wrong of the Minister to try to gaslight them because people with disabilities face enough challenges in this State. They have to give 24-hours' notice to use some forms of public transport. It is very hard for them to access employment. It is very tough for them to get out of the house some days. It is near impossible if they do not have the money to power up their mobility devices. They were told it was dangerous for us to repeat what people with disabilities told us. The Government should be ashamed but it will not be. We see food inflation running at 4%. Again, 4% is just a figure but in real life that is a man standing at the checkout saying to a child, "Put that back, we cannot afford that this week." There is shame in that. These people come into my advice clinics and they tell me they are ashamed because they have to tell their kids that they cannot have something - sometimes it is something fairly basic - and I never, ever fail to remind them that the shame belongs to this Government. The shame is not theirs. They want to be able to provide for their kids. They work hard, but if they are on the minimum wage, they will not get any closer to the living wage under this Government. It has made it very clear. Any Government with a serious interest in protecting people from inflation has to do at least these three things. First, it must put supports in place and it must have targeted payments for energy and the basics for people to be able to live. Second, it must tackle price gouging. I heard it from Neale Richmond a couple of years ago. He was bringing in the heads of the supermarkets and he was going to talk tough. Jesus, we are paying an awful lot more than we were. I am probably glad he did not bring them in again because the prices went up almost immediately. The third thing that a Government should do is just not make things worse. Do not jack up the cost of going to college and do not jack up the cost of renting. This Government does not listen, however, and it does not understand that.

I also add my voice in relation to those who have been injured and offer condolences to the family of the man who has died. I have spoken too many times over the last short period about absolute tragedies. It is obviously disappointing to see this on the streets of Dublin. Too many times have I had to commend those who work in the emergency services. As Deputy O’Reilly said, we do not always think through what they do on a day-by-day basis but, as she says, they always show up and we are very glad they do. I thank Deputy Healy for doing this but the fact we are putting down Private Members’ motions on the cost-of-living crisis in one of the richest states in the world says something. We talk to constituents and constituents come in to us. We hear the conversations in shops or the odd time when people are in bars or anywhere else. It is about the cost of everything and how it has gone through the roof. I do not think the Minister of State will be shocked to hear they are not generally impressed with the actions, or lack of action, of the Government. I think of those who work in EuroGiant and the particular issues they are facing at the moment. That is 77 stores and 640 workers. We do not know how liquidation and the whole thing will go but they are people who might be facing far worse circumstances than they anticipated. I am thinking of those in my home town of Dundalk who work for EuroGiant. We need to ensure that whatever supports are necessary are done. Unfortunately, we do not have all the safety nets for all those who fall into worse times. Many others have said how there are a number out there who are in very good circumstances who are constantly looked after, whether that is developers with their tax breaks, those in the highest echelons of semi-State organisations and all those others. There is no cost-of-living crisis for them and there are no worries about increases for those people. That is the problem. Yesterday, this House went through the disaster the Government is going to impose on an absolutely dysfunctional housing market and housing crisis. In my constituency the average cost of a three-bedroom house rental in County Louth is around €1,966. People would probably struggle to get that price if they go onto daft.ie at the minute. I did it yesterday and I do not intend to go through it again. In Dundalk there were only about 20 properties that were available. What does the Government propose? On 1 March we will have a complete reset for all new tenancies and market rate is what people will be charged. We can just imagine what market rate is in a broken market. Many speakers for very obvious reasons have brought up a cohort of people who have been abused for many years. I refer to those with disabilities. I again commend Disability Federation Ireland, the Irish Wheelchair Association and Access for All for driving home the idea that there is a need for an emergency cost-of-disability payment. I am going to repeat what I said previously. In providing one-off payments, the Government accepted there was a need for a cost-of-disability payment because it made it. The other reason I know the Government believes there is a need for a cost-of-disability payment is because there is a review process ongoing at the minute to provide one for next year. The only problem with that is that it is no good for those who have to decide whether to eat or heat. We all heard from those in the audiovisual room who spoke about the issues over deciding whether to charge their wheelchair and that is before we get into the logistics in relation to travel and the added costs. Even at times when they have free travel, they still have to pay a booking cost because they have to use the Internet when booking within Iarnród Éireann. None of this is good enough and I do not see any solutions. Deputy O'Reilly stated it explicitly. We have had huge promises from the Government and we have had a huge amount of energy in relation to what was going to be done about the absolutely spiralling cost of groceries, not that anybody outside needs to be told about that. They literally can tell us on a day-to-day basis how the price of milk, rashers or anything has gone through the roof. Beef is a particular issue this week. Let us be clear: there is no solution for the absolutely drastic energy costs. As said by many, whatever about not improving the circumstances, at least the Government should do no harm; it should not increase the pain. What do we get? We get carbon taxes thrown on those who can least afford them. We have huge energy costs, huge rental costs and huge mortgage costs. We have no cost-of-disability payments. We have no solutions and no cost-of-living package from the Government. There was no difficulty with cost-of-disability payments and cost-of-living payments before an election, but there is a problem with them now. There is a problem for people out there at the minute. We need to see action and we have seen nothing but bluster.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to support Deputy Healy's motion. The contents of the motion will not be unfamiliar to those in opposition who have tabled broadly similar motions week in and week out over the last few years. What will not be lost on us either is the nature of the rather routine response that we receive from the Government, as we saw in the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon's, response to the motion earlier on. With respect, I have no doubt that in his response in closing the debate, the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, may respond in the same vein, telling us how successful the economy is, how well employment is growing and how resilient the Irish economy is. However, the economy exists for the principal reason of servicing the needs of our society. We have a very successful economy objectively. Many of us have played our own role in ensuring that is the case. However, we cannot say with any great certainty that we have a successful society because with a successful economy must come a more equal society. That is the measurement we must use to measure success. The experiences of far too many individuals and families across this country are undeserving of the kind of approach taken by the Government and the credit the Government gives itself for its great, successful economic model and how well the country is doing because the lived experience for far too many people is very remote from that sort of assessment and that sort of analysis. One of the measures in the motion refers very clearly to the problem that we have with food prices and the increased cost of groceries, something that has put Irish families to the pin of their collective collars over the last few years, in particular since 2020 and 2021. A number of factors feed into that. As a practical legislator, I have sought time and time again to propose practical solutions to try to get a better understanding of why food costs in Ireland are so high and why the prices charged at the checkouts for everyday products are so high compared with some analogous countries in the European Union. One of the measures I proposed was my own unfair prices Bill, which was published in 2023. The response by the then Minister for enterprise, Simon Coveney, was to head that off at the pass in the middle of a real crisis with grocery price inflation. He said not only that he thought the principles laid out in my legislation were worthy of consideration, but that he would introduce his own legislation in 2023 to compel supermarkets to be clearer on their margins and to publish certain information so we as consumers could make our own minds up as to whether they were gouging. What did we get? We got two reports from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, one in 2023 and, under pressure, another one in the summer telling us effectively that there is nothing to see here and that there is no issue with competition in the Irish supermarket sector. We have had the CCPC rather extraordinarily saying on the one hand that there is no issue with price gouging but on the other hand that it does not really have sufficient information to completely determine that. It said it anyway. How can anybody possibly say that there is no issue with price gouging, with all that entails, if they do not have the complete information? My proposed legislation was finally debated on Second Stage last summer. Why has it not been brought to committee to be interrogated further? The Minister in 2023 thought this was a good idea. Since then, I believe from the data I have read that the annual cost of grocery shopping has gone up by about €2,000 but wages have not. Why can we not properly interrogate this? I do not like to conclude this, but it is quite clear that the Government is simply afraid to take on big business and corporate interests as its actions have shown. We are still waiting for all the powers of the Agri-Food Regulator to be properly commenced. That will actually give the State a very significant weapon to use to ensure greater transparency for primary producers - the farmers, producers, processors and so on that we rely on to purchase food. It will be another important piece of the jigsaw for consumers to figure out who is gouging whom and what the problem is. If we cannot measure the problem, we cannot propose solutions. Time and again we in the Labour Party have published comprehensive and coherent joined-up proposals to address all of the issues that make this country such an expensive place in which to work, in which to do business for a small business, and in which to live and exist. We need a coherent cost-of-living action plan from this Government but we simply do not get it. Decisions were made in the last budget that really make it very clear what the ideological direction of this Government is. On the one hand, the poorest and most marginalised in our society, those who depend on the State for their income and people with disabilities require additional cost-of-living payments to ensure they can make ends meet. We have acknowledged over many years that there is an additional cost to having a disability. As Deputy Ó Murchú said earlier, the Government has more or less admitted there is a problem for people with disabilities who merely exist and do not participate fully in society because of their economic circumstances. The Government has admitted that given that it introduced cost-of-living payments in recent years ahead of the last general election, of course. There is no sign of them now. The Government decided not to do that and instead to provide enormous, unjustified, unwarranted tax breaks for burger barons and big builders, at the expense of those who require cost-of-disability payments and of workers. At the end of January, if you are paid every month and you got a pay increase, which people will receive this year at on average 3% to 4%, you will see that swallowed up because the personal taxation system was not indexed last year. Much if not all of that pay increase will not make it into people's pay packets or bank accounts every week, every second week or every month. Instead it will go to the Exchequer. They are the decisions the Government has made. The motion refers to the need to introduce a living wage. I established the Low Pay Commission back in 2015 with the sole intention of ensuring that Irish workers would ultimately enjoy a living wage. We have a real problem with in-work poverty, and that problem remains. While we are closer now to achieving a living wage than we were, we are very tardy about it. The Government has not met its own targets for the introduction of a living wage. The longer we wait to introduce a living wage, perversely, the more costs will arise for the Exchequer. We spend an enormous amount of money essentially subsidising low pay and subsidising big corporations that are paying hard-working people poverty wages. That is an outrageous commentary on our priorities as a country. Working people should by definition enjoy a living wage, sufficient income to have a reasonable, modest lifestyle, something that people in a rich economy should be entitled to expect. Something else we did not do in the budget for this year was index social welfare rates. Most modern, sophisticated economies analogous to Ireland have some form of indexation of social welfare rates and personal taxation rates. I have been a proponent of this for many years. It could fundamentally address some very real problems we have with in-work poverty and standards of living more generally. We in Labour support the motion. We thank Deputy Healy and his colleagues for introducing it and we look forward to voting in favour of it next week.

I thank Deputy Healy for bringing forward this motion. It is timely that we are discussing a cost-of-living Private Member' motion. The Social Democrats have brought forward a number of measures to try to support people with the ever-increasing rise in the cost of just existing, due to the cost of so many things. I want to focus on a number of areas and the first is poverty. We have been hearing for a very long time about the number of children who are living below the poverty line. It is one in five, or 225,000 children in this country who are living below the poverty line. The effects of poverty are lifelong. Poverty affects not only the generation experiencing it but the generation that comes after it. There is absolutely no reason anyone in this country should be identified as living below the poverty line. We are a rich country. There is no need for it and there are solutions, but unfortunately they are not being implemented. Poverty really does affect children's learning. As my party's education spokesperson, I have spoken so many times about the young people I worked with over the almost 30 years when I was involved in youth work and a school completion programme. It affects their daily life in terms of their learning but also their thriving in society. It is the same for adults. There is a lot of conversation at the moment about the hot school meals. They were brought in because there are children who are hungry in our schools. They were there before and they are still there. When you are hungry, you cannot learn. The fundamental difficulty with then stigmatising a child who is poor in giving them a meal has always been a difficulty, but the hot school meals have been fantastic in making sure that no one feels stigmatised and every single child gets a hot school meal. The shame of poverty is something else. Only those who experience it can truly describe what it is. The hot school meals programme will make sure that every single child in this country gets a hot school meal, but especially children who are hungry. Not a single child in this country should be hungry at school, whether that is primary or secondary school. I look forward to the scheme being rolled out in secondary schools because there is also a huge need there. Children do not stop being hungry after sixth class. They go on to first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth year and they are still hungry then. I really want to see that programme rolled out to secondary schools. We need to make sure the food that is provided there is nutritious and is something they want to eat. Getting that balance, as anyone who is a parent will know, is also a challenge. We need to work hard on that. There is the cost of education itself. Voluntary contributions should have their name changed to "not voluntary at all, depending on the school and how much pressure they put on the parent" contributions. Some schools will respect the fact that it is voluntary and will not chase parents for it because what they are looking for are the nice things in the school that maybe the school cannot provide. Unfortunately, however, schools are not able to be funded to the level they want to be. I know there was an increase but there needs to be more. A woman contacted my office recently. It is just before the mock leaving certificate exams; I have a child doing them at the moment. It is a tense time in households. The school her child goes to was badgering her for the fee for the mocks. She did not have the money at all and she said she would have to borrow the money from a family member. The school told her that if she did not get the money in, the child could not sit the mocks. What the heck? I do not want to curse but I am getting close to it. That is a disgrace. Other mechanisms in the school can be used for that; whatever it is, use it. She was not only being badgered about the mock exams, but she was also being badgered about the not-so-voluntary voluntary contribution. This woman was being put under so much pressure. It is not acceptable. Last week, the Social Democrats had a Private Members' motion about an emergency winter payment for disabled people. As has already been said, the Minister claimed we were gaslighting him and that there was no such thing as choosing between heating and eating. We are not making that up. We are hearing from people in the three agencies involved in getting that motion recognised. This is not made up. People in this country are struggling. I am very thankful to Deputy Healy for bringing this forward. I ask Government Deputies to really look at their constituencies and other constituencies, like mine in Dublin South-Central, where things are not great for everybody, and to identify the things that are really important to people. That is living properly, sustainably, living a good life and not struggling with poverty all of the time.

I echo the other Deputies' thanks to Deputy Healy for bringing forward this motion. It is very well written and comprehensive. It articulates a lot of what is wrong in the country right now and the cost-of-living crisis. I attended a conference late last year, hosted by the European Council on Social Rights, on the cost-of-living crisis. At that conference, I and many others heard that the bottom 20% of households are the most vulnerable to cost increases. Cost inflation for that cohort in Ireland is at about 5%, nearly twice the rate of annual inflation, far beyond the social protection increases in budget 2026 and one of the highest in Europe. Core to this question of the cost of living is what the components are. They are energy, food, childcare and housing - the list seems endless. What is not often reported are the extreme levels of costs in Ireland relative to our European peers. We have the highest electricity costs in the EU, the second most expensive food prices in the EU, some of the highest rents and mortgage interest rates in Europe and no public model of childcare. Our exceptionalism in how we rip people off in this country is unparalleled. What was the Government's response? It was a budget for this year that increases poverty, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, and leaves disabled people €1,400 worse off than they were last year, according to the Irish Wheelchair Association, driving an exceptional level of need among households. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul reported the highest ever demand for its supports among the impoverished. This is a damning indictment of how this Government has left too many behind. As my colleague, Deputy Cummins, said last week, the Social Democrats put forward a measure for a modest emergency winter payment for disabled people to help the most vulnerable population in the State with this cost-of-living crisis. We were met not just with resistance from the Government but outright disdain. What this Government is crafting is a society with a tale of two cities - one for those who are doing well, who have benefited from this Government and which caters to developers and special interests and one for everyone else. Everyone else, those who have a different life experiences or do not agree with the Government measures, are tarnished by words from this Government of being "alarmist" or accused of being "dangerous and misleading", as they were last week. In an age of misinformation and disinformation, this Government has proven itself to be the most adept king of spin. Disabled people are not choosing between heating and the food according to the Government, even when they tell us that they are. Instead, they are, as one disabled person put it, perceived as liars. The Government touts progress in housing while new records in homeless numbers are set every quarter. The Government says it is pumping billions of euro into capital in energy development and yet all offshore wind farms in this country lie idle. The people of this country are not fools. They know someone is misleading them. They know it is not disabled people, renters, those punished with vulture fund mortgage interest rates, climate activists or us in the Opposition. They know who is doing misleading and they know it is the Government.

Is it happening? I am on the record of the Dáil as saying that I believe the cost of living in this country is going to have an adverse reaction. Today, for the people of Abbeyfeale who have worked in KOSTAL Ireland GmbH, there is the loss of 140 jobs, 95 operators and 45 non-operators. Where has the business gone? It has gone to China. EuroGiant is going into liquidation. It is happening because Ireland is now becoming a place where people are taxed out of existence. Over the past two years, I have been feeling that something is coming, and it is coming. This Government has to do something to help the working people in this country to have an existence in which they can survive, see a future for their children and in which they want to stay here and not leave these shores. That is what we have to achieve. KOSTAL Ireland GmbH has been in Abbeyfeale for many years. The people of Abbeyfeale have now lost 140 jobs to China. Last year the company asked for 60 voluntary redundancies, which it got. There were up to 400 people working in KOSTAL Ireland GmbH at one time. If they have lost 140 jobs today and 60 last year, is the writing not on the wall? What is that going to do for the people in Abbeyfeale and the businesses they support in Abbeyfeale and in the surrounding communities in Kerry and Limerick? Even people from my constituency work there. What are we going to say to them this evening? The price of food in this country has gone up. The price of rent has gone up. The price of fuel at the pumps has gone up. The price of the clothes on our backs has gone up. The cost of heating for houses has gone up. The cost of electricity has gone up. The cost of maintenance of vehicles has gone up. The cost of maintenance of the roads has gone down. There is no maintenance of the roads, so people are damaging their cars even going to work. Disabled people, including wheelchair users, have seen a reduction of €1,400. Yet, a Department can have an overspend of €1.2 billion on a hospital with no accountability. Some €360,000 was spent on a bike shed and there was no accountability. Another €1.2 million was spent on another security hut. We had the chairperson of Bord Bia in. He brought in beef from Brazil. This affects the farmers of this country who produce the highest quality food, setting the standards for across Europe. What does Europe want to do for a Mercosur deal? Europe wants to bring beef into this country, which contains carcinogens, and where there is no traceability or tagging systems and where there is accessibility to drugs for the animals. None of this is allowed here but they are allowed this. I was at the meeting and it feeds in to this. That person saw nothing wrong with him having his own meat company and being the chair of Bord Bia. I have been a self-employed contractor all my life. If I was working for the Department building social houses or any other project for the Government, would I be allowed to be the chair of the housing committee? Under legislation, the answer is "No". Yet, he can have a company and sit as the chair of Bord Bia, which is making every food producer in this country meet the highest standards, while he, the watchdog, brings in inferior foods into this country. That is not only a problem for Ireland; it is a problem for Europe. The cost of living here is off the wall if a person wants to build a house here. We had the pyrite scandal, redress for which the Government has not fully funded yet. The people who caused the pyrite problem here saw a 40% increase in concrete products in this country over five years. In January all concrete products increased in price by another 8%. What did the Government do? It put a 5% levy on all concrete products on top of that to pay for all their mistakes. None of them is held accountable. In terms of the squeezed middle in this country, if two people in a household are working, they are worse off. They qualify for nothing. Every cent they have goes to keeping their families fed and sometimes they have to do without food themselves and try to put a roof over their heads. Sometimes they are not able to make rent. How are we going to fix this? Are companies now looking at this country and deciding that it is no longer a viable place to have a business? That is a concern. The Government will always be remembered for turning its back on its own. These are families who have voted for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for decades and celebrated 100 years. These are the people who walk the roads with them, helped them get to where they are and asked them to deliver for them. Only for social media, they would never have been found out about everything that the Fianna Fáíl and Fine Gael said to them that they were coming up to do for them, but their Members would vote the opposite way when they come up here. Televisions showed one side of it, but never showed the side of their voting record. That is why the whole system in this country has changed. The people were traditionally Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. One was known as the workers' party and the other was known as the farmers' party. Why does the Government think there were loads of farmers here today? Why does it think the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, was outside Bord Bia's offices overnight? Why does it think 27,000 people turned up in Athlone? There is a shift. The traditional people who voted for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael no longer believe that they are representing them. All they believe is that the Government is representing their children leaving these shores and representing the people in this country who want everything, but the Government is not looking after the towns and villages that supported it. It is only looking at the balance. It does not look at the community supports that it can deliver for the people who have to work in another town or village. The Government looks at the bottom line which is "They only give so much money to society. They are costing us so much money." It closed down the banks in every town that they were in because the turnover was not there. That was about the convenience of having them in their area. It was bringing in the footfall to area that supported other businesses. Infrastructure in this country, such as water and sewerage schemes, has been promised in places in Limerick for 46 years. It is infrastructure where we could be building houses for the past 20, 30 or 40 years. Now, we are going to areas and the planning laws say, "Sorry, there is no capacity." What did the Government do? It looked at how much capacity it had. The biggest amount of capacity it had was in the cities. It started to build houses in the cities. What happened then? Supply and demand drove the prices through the roof. Five years ago, a house could be built between €100 and €110 per sq. ft. The same house today is €190 to €200 per sq. foot. The Government had a 13.5% tax five years ago on it. It has doubled its tax take. At the moment, anyone who going for a mortgage they pay tax to qualify for their mortgage. They pay tax where they are working. They pay tax on building their own house. It works out about 40% of their mortgage now is tax based. They are borrowing their mortgages for 20 and 30 years now to pay 40% more in tax and they might have to leave this country after it.

I thank the Deputies for their important contributions to this debate. I acknowledge that they are genuine in bringing concerns about the cost of living to the floor of the House. These are really important issues - emotive but with very real impacts on our people. I am committed, as are all my colleagues across government, to improving living conditions for all. That is what we are doing and what we will continue to do. Fundamentally, our economy is sound and robust. The data shows we are performing very strongly, particularly when it comes to jobs and income. This is further evidenced by today’s unemployment numbers. I see unemployment and incomes as being intrinsically interlinked. The best way out of poverty is through employment. The best way to raise living standards is through employment. I recall the dark days of the 1980s when Ireland was scourged by joblessness, long-term unemployment and emigration. That is not the case today. The latest CSO data points to a record number of persons in work at over 2.8 million people with rising participation and sustained jobs growth. The labour market remains close to full employment with record rates of activity and very strong net inward migration. While the labour market has cooled down, we still expect to see further employment growth this year and in 2027. Forecasts from the Central Bank and the Department of Finance point to solid slowing employment growth in 2026 and 2027, with close to 50,000 jobs added per annum. Ireland's unemployment rate also remains far below the European average as we continue to create jobs at rates that are multiples of our European peers. The annual rate of inflation was 2.2% in 2025, relative to 2.1% in 2024 and 6.3% in 2023. We are aware of the challenges posed by inflation here and we are monitoring price developments very closely. I note that the Central Bank recently revised up its outlook for inflation in 2026 reflecting pressures on the services and energy sides. My colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, earlier outlined how many of the issues raised here this evening are being addressed through the likes of budget 2026, the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity and other fora. With any decisions, whether that be tax changes or wages, there are trade-offs. We have to make sure we strike the right balance between decisions and actions that are fair and sustainable for our workers and our economy, and ones that will not have significant negative consequences for employers and competitiveness. I understand the arguments Deputies have put forward on costs and wages. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, earlier outlined the sizeable increases in the national minimum wage over the past few years. Just last month, the minimum wage increased again by 65 cent. This is an increase of 4.8% and is projected to be well ahead of inflation. Our current rate of €14.15 an hour means that Ireland has the second highest minimum wage in the EU, second only to Luxembourg and is among the highest in the world. When adjusted for purchasing power standards, we have the fifth highest minimum wage in the EU. The Low Pay Commission when making its recommendations for a national minimum wage has a statutory obligation to have regard to and report on several factors, such as changes in earnings, income distribution and the likely economic effects of any recommendation. The Government carefully considers the recommendations of the commission, and of course closely monitors labour market developments and cost-of-living concerns. There has to be a balance between a fair and sustainable rate for low paid workers and one that will not have significant negative consequences for employers and competitiveness. I fully expect the national minimum wage to continue to increase over the coming years. I also listened to contributions on the effects of high energy costs on households. The Government is deeply aware and concerned about the pressures placed on both households and businesses by high energy costs. Providing supports to alleviate this pressure has been a priority for this Government and extensive work has and will continue to be undertaken across government to address these challenges. As outlined earlier, the Government has clearly demonstrated its commitment to supporting households to meet energy costs. It has delivered significant investment in energy infrastructure and energy efficiency measures. The increased targeted supports provided through budget 2026 confirm our ongoing commitment to support households and businesses to meet energy costs. The budget package provided significant supports to help householders with the cost of heating and other energy bills. The fuel allowance increased by €5 to €38 per week, which is a 15% increase well ahead of inflation. For the first time, families receiving the working family payment qualify for the fuel allowance. This change will benefit an additional 43,000 households across the State. The formation of the energy affordability task force will ensure that a whole-of-government approach is taken to continue to tackle this issue. While the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, has carried out extensive monitoring of the Irish retail energy market before, during and in the aftermath of the energy crisis, it found no evidence of market failure. Recent analysis by the International Energy Agency, IEA, and Nevin Economic Research Institute, NERI, has outlined the importance of progressing the programme for Government's commitment to "commission an independent review into the speed and level of passthrough for wholesale prices to retail prices, with an additional assessment of the overall price dynamics and an overall focus on the competitiveness of the Irish economy." At the request of the Government, the CRU will lead this independent review of the relationship between wholesale and retail energy prices. That work will be completed in 2026. If we want to tackle high prices, we need to examine costs to business. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, mentioned a few initiatives the Government is undertaking to address business costs and the measures we brought forward to improve working conditions. In 2024, the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Social Protection published a report examining the impact of such measures as auto-enrolment retirement savings, parent's leave and benefit, statutory sick pay, an additional public holiday, a living wage and remote working. The report highlighted that there will be cost impacts on firms from these measures but with significant differences by sector. In particular, the impacts on the likes of the accommodation, food and retail sectors were highlighted, especially arising from the transition to the living wage. Reflecting on the findings of that review, a range of measures were brought forward to assist businesses in adjusting to the increased costs as well as more generally to improve the cost competitiveness of firms. The implementation of those measures will improve the cost competitiveness of SMEs. For example, the Low Pay Commission is considering a lower employer PRSI threshold as part of any future minimum wage recommendations. In addition, the application of an enhanced SME test will ensure there is increased consideration of the business cost implications of future Government decisions. The Government also responded with last year's Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity. In response to international economic developments and in line with another commitment in the programme for Government, the Government expedited the action plan, which was published on 10 September 2025. It reflects a whole-of-government approach to domestic drivers of competitiveness, focusing on areas firmly within our domestic control. The development of the action plan has been informed by extensive consultation across Departments and with external stakeholders. It contains 85 actions for enhancing Ireland's competitiveness and productivity performance, with 26 of them identified as priority actions. The actions are grouped into six thematic areas, including productivity, sustainability and a focus on SMEs. There has been considerable progress in the relatively short time since the action plan was published last September. Just under half of the actions are due for delivery in 2026. The remaining actions were delivered in 2025 or are scheduled for delivery from 2027 to 2030. This debate has been very useful. It is also useful - in fact, it is essential at times - to take a step back and look at our economic performance in context. Our economy does not operate in a bubble. We are heavily impacted by international sentiment and developments. Today’s unemployment numbers from the CSO are further evidence that we are getting a lot of things right. The fact the unemployment rate remained below 5%, at just 4.7% in January, despite the turbulent external environment, speaks volumes.

Could the Government be any less caring on this issue? It has not put forward a solitary meaningful measure. Let us start with the Minister of State's claim that the best way out of poverty is through employment. That absolutely is no longer the case. There are tens of thousands of workers living in poverty because of the cost of living, including the cost of childcare, housing, electricity and insurance for cars and so on. He cites statistics to show the economy is doing well but we all know we have a problem in Ireland with the leprechaun economics of GNP and GDP. The economy doing well is not a barometer that shows we do not have a high cost of living. That is the reality. The statistics are distorted very much by high earners and those at the top with wealth. The actions called for in the motion are incredibly reasonable. Stopping price gouging by food and energy companies is something the Government could actively do. Another suggestion is introducing price controls on food, electricity, gas and fuel. When we were all growing up, the State used to own ESB. What was wrong with that? The idea that competition would bring down prices has been proven to be a fallacy. It would be a hugely popular move if the State, rather than letting people be ripped off, took control of electricity, an essential of life, and reduced its price to the lowest possible level. The motion proposes implementing a rent freeze, introducing a living wage, benchmarking social welfare increases to the minimum standard of living index and introducing a weekly cost-of-disability payment. A reduction in childcare costs to €200 per month, as promised in the election but since studiously forgotten, would make such a change in so many workers' lives. Introducing free public transport is something the Government could do that would be hugely beneficial for commuters and for the environment as well. Other proposals in the motion are for a second, targeted tier of child benefit payments and the reinstatement of energy credits. What we need in this country is a complete shifting of wealth. Ireland has the worst figures in Europe for the share of wealth that goes to capital versus labour. The Government's amendment refers to Ireland being in the middle when we adjust for purchasing power parity. This uses figures that are completely different from the reality. We have the second highest prices in Europe, at 38% above the EU average. Restaurant prices are 29% above average, we are the most expensive for electricity, gas and fuel, housing is 50% more expensive and childcare is 58% dearer than the EU average. We have the most expensive transport and public transport costs. Irish people also have medical costs that do not arise in other European countries, such as when people have to go to the GP because they are sick or their child is ill. Another aspect to consider is the gendered nature of the cost of living. A total of 22% of female workers, or nearly one in four, are in the lowest-paid employment sectors in our economy. Women are paying much more and suffering much more because of the cost of living. They would be so in any case because it tends to be women heading up the one-parent families that are the most impoverished in this country. The same arises with disabled people. I am shocked by just how little focus the Government has given to them. We need the trade union movement in this country to act on this issue. The unions' leadership has been completely silent as the massive cost-of-living crisis has engulfed workers. It is as though that crisis is finished. It is not finished. Just because the Government is no longer giving targeted supports does not mean people are okay. They are not okay. I would like to see the trade union membership fighting for bigger pay increases and taking on and challenging the status quo that deems that workers should pay higher costs again and again.

I am shocked by the Government's amendment. In effect, it is saying that everything in the garden is rosy. However, low- and middle-income families know very well that everything in the garden is not rosy. The Government's amendment does not even acknowledge the cost-of-living crisis that exists. It does not acknowledge the huge financial pressures on families. There is no acknowledgement that budget 2026 created higher levels of poverty and took up to €1,400 out of the pockets of the less well off and the disabled. There is no acknowledgement that the Government increased the income tax take from PAYE workers. I should not have been shocked by the amendment because the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments of the past ten years have pursued policies that support the rich and powerful in our society to the detriment of low- and middle-income families. The political choices they have made support corporate landlords, the burger barons and the big developers. That is exactly what has happened. It is noticeable that we do not see, and have not seen, a single Fianna Fáil Deputy in the Chamber. This is a party that claimed at one stage to represent working-class people. Of course, that is long since gone. Fianna Fáil has now become more Fine Gael than Fine Gael itself. There is no more confirmation of that than the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 of the Fianna Fáil Minister, James Browne, which he introduced in the House yesterday. That Bill is written by, for and on behalf of corporate landlords and institutional investors. That Bill will line the pockets of these organisations and will introduce extortionate rents, lock people out of the rental markets and increase homelessness. The Government's policy is very clear. The Minister has said that employment is the way out poverty. There are 140,000 workers living in poverty. They are not my figures; they are Government figures and from the CSO. Contrast that to the huge increases of higher executives announced last week and the huge bonuses to Irish Water executives announced the week before. There is an alternative but, of course, it is one the Government refuses to take. This is a very wealthy country. Budget 2026 projects a surplus of €5.1 billion and over the past three years there has been a surplus of €42.2 billion. The Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund have €20 billion. This Government can well afford to reinstate energy credits and to introduce an emergency winter payment. If that is not enough, there are huge financial moneys available. Twelve Irish billionaires own €46 billion. That exceeds the combined wealth of 66% of the population of this country, some 3.4 million people. Oxfam recommends a wealth tax, and rightly so. That is something the Government should introduce immediately. A wealth tax, even at a very nominal rate, would raise billions of euro to support low and middle-income families. The Minister's amendment is absolutely shameful and should be withdrawn. At least, the Government should introduce immediately a €500 winter payment for people who are seriously under pressure from energy bills right across the board. I ask the Dáil to support this reasonable and common-sense motion and I ask the Minister of State to withdraw his amendment.

De réir Bhuan-Ordaithe 85(2), cuirfear an vótáil siar go dtí an am vótála seachtainiúil Dé Céadaoin, 11 Feabhra 2026.