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problems of the Government is that it is one of the key drivers of the cost-of-living crisis. Last year, the Government took in €4.1 billion in fuel taxes. This was highest ever in the history of this State in the jaws of a cost-of-living

this budget. Where is the help for workers who struggle with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis in this budget? They got nothing or rather they got another increase in fuel costs, with the latest increase in the carbon tax. The Government could have scrapped … week, HIQA published its long-awaited report on the delivery of urgent and emergency health care in the mid-west region. Acknowledging the crisis with capacity we have faced for years in the mid-west region, it made three recommendations. One of these was the delivery

hand the decline in the fishing industry. The sector has suffered quota cuts, fleet reductions and fuel pressures. The input of cost increases in recent years has left them facing crisis after crisis. This is following decades of neglect, mismanagement and weak negotiations on their behalf by successive

Minister that people across the State are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. The cost of the weekly shop, the cost of utilities, the cost of rent and the cost of fuel are all rising, with little to no support offered in the most recent budget

rise, even if those increases barely keep pace with the cost of living. We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Families are struggling to afford groceries, childcare, energy bills and housing. Yet instead of easing the tax burden, the budget leaves them exposed … just statistic; it is a crisis. In west Cork and across rural Ireland, people rely on their cars. Public transport is limited or non-existent. Parents drive long distances to schools. Workers commute to towns. Farmers depend on fuel to run machinery. These are not luxuries; they

where are the bold, tangible commitments to climate action - the existential crisis of our time - so that clean and cheap energy can be for the many and not for the few and so that everybody's fuel bills can be permanently lowered? It is shameful that today this

goes. I can recall that during the energy crisis, the proposals she came up with would have undermined our financial credibility and would have been a boon to the oil companies and the fossil fuel companies

intervened, particularly at the height of that crisis, in a substantial way. However, retail prices are influenced by several factors, as the Deputy knows, including wholesale energy prices and supplier hedging. In Ireland, our long-standing reliance on fossil fuels, specifically gas, for electricity generation has been

crisis, the Government has taken a lot of measures that I outlined in response to an earlier question, particularly in terms of supporting families and increasing the child support payment by €16 for a child over 12 and €8 for a child under 12; extending the fuel allowance

banks, while all its big election promises disappeared like snow off a ditch. The budget was written as though the cost-of-living crisis was a thing of the past, but at the very time it was announced, households heard that they face the biggest price squeeze … hikes in food prices, in their health insurance premiums, and instead of working to get costs down for households, the Government hiked up fuel prices, student fees and the local property tax. There is no end in sight. The Government knew all of this when it signed

improvements to grants and so on, but what has also been revealed is a failure to understand the scale of the home energy crisis in Ireland in 2025. Mark my words, this is the thing that will drive people over the edge this winter. Here is the problem … that is still out of the reach of so many. I urge Government to take our advice. We have proposed further extending the fuel allowance to all of those on working family payments. There have been some moves in that direction today and we will look in detail

people when the ESB bill or the gas bill comes through their letter boxes. Electricity prices are 70% higher than they were pre crisis. Gas prices are 100% higher. That is double where they were. This has real consequences for people's energy bills and heating their homes … providing for a cost-saving package for energy costs and by increasing costs through the carbon tax for people who rely on solid fuel home heating and who have to drive their cars to places, it means that all those families all over this State are actually going

week, an increase of more than 15%. This will provide an additional €140 to more than 460,000 recipients during the annual fuel allowance season. That payment has been extended and expanded to include those in receipt of the working family payment. Targeting our resources at those most … households in energy poverty. In 2024, this facilitated nearly 8,000 energy upgrades in low-income households. During the height of the energy crisis, we did, as the Deputy mentioned, provide energy credits but, to maintain sustainable public finances, it makes sense to target resources at those

behalf of Ireland's tillage farmers. It is an essential yet increasingly vulnerable part of our agricultural landscape. The tillage sector is in crisis. For the third consecutive year, farmers are facing financial losses. Despite their resilience and commitment to sustainable practices the economic reality is stark … alone following increases of 20% in 2022 and 9% in 2023. Machinery costs account for 25% or 30% of total growing costs, while fuel and seed prices remain volatile. Despite these challenges, Teagasc forecasts a 40% increase in tillage incomes in 2025, bringing the average

meeting; it was a cry for help. Farmers came from every corner of the country to say clearly that Irish tillage is in crisis. To his credit, the Minister, Deputy Heydon, attended that meeting. He heard directly from farmers about the fault lines that threaten the future … tillage and want to stay working in it. Right now, growers are sowing winter crops and paying for expensive seed, sprays, fertiliser, fuel and machinery. They are making major commercial commitments, even as many are still waiting to be paid for grain harvested weeks ago. It all adds

good and the true cost is being paid by hard-pressed families and households, people who are toiling through a cost-of-living crisis and who saw the budget come and go last week with, it has to be said, almost no reprieve or relief for them … profits last year. I am reading this from a script because it has to be read into the record. Pushing more households into fuel poverty is a high price to pay for what is clearly the hoarding of wealth by energy companies. Yesterday and today, the Taoiseach

viability. We need to see stronger EU action against non-EU states that continue flagrant overfishing of shared stocks, which has created this crisis in fish stocks. In the past five years alone, more than 1 million tonnes above the scientifically advised mackerel quota has been caught … next two years. It is a priority because as we capture more electricity to decarbonise our economy and move away from fossil fuels, we need to develop a pipeline of projects to ensure we continue to attract the large amount of foreign direct investment and attract the large

money in their pockets and will have to pay out more. Working families will pay more tax. Commuters will pay higher prices for fuel. Older people will be worse off in terms of purchasing power. Families will have to pay more for heating their homes and will face … They say it is simply not viable for them to build. Having builders at home doing nothing in the middle of a housing crisis is incomprehensible. If the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, thinks the €8,000 benefit just for apartments will effect radical change in relation

called on the Government to deliver effective measures to tackle child poverty. That means targeted and universal measures. The cost-of-living crisis has brought so many pressures on so many households. Many who never thought they would be in this situation now find themselves there because … payment this year, along with other targeted supports. The Government should have doubled the back to school payments. It should have extended the fuel allowance by nine weeks. That would have given people an extra €297. Instead, the Government has only increased fuel allowance by €5. That

storm means something serious. We all experienced Storm Éowyn and its aftermath. One thing we know for certain is that the climate crisis is worsening and that the frequency of climate-induced natural disasters is increasing. Storm Éowyn brought the west of Ireland to a halt. That happened … stand up to the big polluters. It could have introduced a pollution tax on private jets and ended our reliance on fossil fuels by investing in strong public renewable energy infrastructure. Instead, it has pushed the cost of climate measures onto workers and families through regressive and divisive

heat and 23% missing a rent or mortgage payment. Research by the Vincentian Partnership in April 2022, before the cost-of-living crisis, showed that income supports for carers were inadequate and caring households incurred additional weekly expenditure of €244 per week. This effectively wiped out the carer … This family is under severe general and financial pressure and was recently threatened with electricity disconnection. This week they were refused the fuel allowance on a technicality. This is absolutely shocking and this Government must do better

before. Sadly, the scale of new builds remains inadequate to meet the demands. The housing waiting list continues to grow and the affordability crisis continues to worsen, especially for low- and middle-income families. Rising rents and house prices continue to push working-class families further away from … renewable energy and public transport in order to reduce the financial burden on families. Sinn Féin supports a just transition. Rising electricity and fuel prices are due in no small part to the Government's obsessive drive towards higher carbon taxes. Families will continue to struggle with transportation

rate of carbon tax for petrol and diesel will increase from €63.50 to €7 per tonne. This increase will apply to all other fuels from 1 May 2026. Regarding the carbon tax total allocation, in 2025, €951 million was allocated from carbon tax revenues, an increase … been going on for too long and is putting significant pressure on our health and education systems. Our housing is in deep crisis and it is being made much worse because supply is exceeding demand. We have to take on the whole issue of illegal immigration and make

These are families who have had the small support of one-off payments taken off them this year while their housing costs and fuel bills are going up and they are struggling to make ends meet. It is not just the Christmas turkey that will cost more this … squeezed middle". What does the Taoiseach propose to do for hard-working families? He repeatedly answers my questions on the cost-of-living crisis by mentioning the terrible war in Ukraine, which, of course, is a factor, as well as geopolitical uncertainty and market forces, but corporate greed

energy upgrade schemes and retrofitting, as well as growing investment in renewable energy generation and the circular economy. We all know the housing crisis is an emergency. That requires us to react with a multifaceted response and with all arms and agencies of the State acting … going to preschool, for two- and three-year-olds. This is a practical measure that will help young families. We are increasing the fuel allowance payment and extending eligibility to those in receipt of the working family payment. More than 50,000 additional households will now qualify

considers it fair that parents are being penalised through reductions or exclusions from the fuel allowance and other social welfare supports as a result of the ongoing housing crisis, where many adult children are unable to secure independent accommodation and are continuing to live in the family home