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least well-off and most vulnerable in our society have been absolutely hammered by the cost-of-living crisis that has been inflicted on them over the last number of years. It is very important to say that the cost-of-living crisis is not like the weather … does not just happen. The other side of the cost-of-living crisis is profiteering by the people who increase the prices; it is as simple as that. The energy companies ratchet up the prices and have done so consistently over the last number of years. In fact

shocrú dóibh siúd ag barr an dréimire, ach diúltaíonn siad cuidiú le gnáth-theaghlaigh atá faoi bhrú agus atá ag streachailt. The cost-of-living crisis is completely out of control. It is getting worse by the day. It is putting people under massive pressure. We have constant … nothing. Last month, you delivered a budget of €9.4 billion that left people worse off. It was a budget with no cost-of-living package, where you broke your promise of tax breaks for workers. It was littered with cushy tax breaks for top-brass executives, developers

those rip-off bills. In fact, the Government delivered a budget of €9.4 billion that left working people worse off with no cost-of-living package while households are being hammered with no end in sight. Social Justice Ireland reported yesterday how the slashing of cost-of-living … gives free reign to energy companies to hike up prices, it heaps additional carbon taxes onto home heating oil, it has cancelled cost-of-living supports, it delivered a budget of billions of euro that abandoned people - all bad choices that have made things even worse. What action

Last night, the Government had a chance to vote for measures that would cut the cost of living. Instead, it stood firm and decided to continue the rip-off. The irony of the Government putting statements out the day after it rejected the very measures that would have … will be the ordinary people and their expenses - the people who are struggling with the cost of living. It pushes up prices for basic necessities which are already sky high. Is the Government taking the cost-of-living crisis seriously at all? On top of this, we face

bumper profits next year under its watch. We heard all about the great choices this Government wanted to make while the cost of living, energy, groceries and housing skyrocketed. On a quiet Wednesday afternoon a month later, with much less fanfare, we get to the stark reality … hand, the increased rates of social welfare payments do not go far enough in themselves to address inequality and the colossal cost of living for people on low incomes. We in the Social Democrats went further in our alternative budget on almost every point in this Bill

social welfare increases, those who were in poverty are now further in poverty because we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis like I have never seen before. There are 190,000 children in immediate poverty. They are going to sink further into … small increase in the budget is not going to lift those vulnerable people out of poverty. There is no cost-of-living measures or one-offs. Last year, there was money for everything because there was an election but the election is over now so there

raise the price of motor fuels, with the Minister for Finance holding overall responsibility for tax policy; regrets that: — despite a raging cost of living crisis, motorists are faced with price hikes at every turn, particularly those living in rural areas, who are forced to use a private … Budget 2026, and to cancel these planned increases and lessen the burden on workers, families, and businesses in the midst of the cost-of-living and fuel crisis; and calls on the Government to: — reverse the carbon tax increase of May 2025 on home heating

insurance costs and now a fresh round of toll hikes come January, workers and families are seeing no let-up in the cost-of-living crisis. Ireland is one of the most expensive places to run a car, with recent analysis showing that we have the third highest … direct result of their policies. Budget 2026 was a clear example of how the Government had failed to support families during this cost-of-living crisis. In that budget, the Government decided to withdraw cost-of-living supports and to continue to increase the carbon tax on petrol

State that was just a continuous attack against the Opposition and Sinn Féin. Every time we raise issues in relation to the cost of living, the Government’s response is to ask where are the solutions. We brought forward a motion today with solutions … solutions we put forward. What is also interesting is that on all the additional hikes and cost increases and the cost-of-living crisis, whether it is for motorists or whether it is on groceries or on rent or mortgages, the Government Members always blame everybody but themselves

gouging taking place in this country. The Government throws its hands in the air and asks, "What can we do about the cost-of-living crisis?" The Government created the aspect of the cost-of-living crisis that relates to tolls. It was Fianna Fáil that brought … work. If we genuinely want to get people out of their cars and if we want to actually help them with the cost-of-living crisis and the cost of motoring, then we need to make sure our public services and our bus services, actually work. People

last time I asked about this, the Taoiseach claimed the cost of disability would be looked at in the next budget. The cost-of-living crisis is now. The cost-of-disability crisis is now. Some 70,000 people who are disabled or have a long-term illness … living in poverty. That is one in three. I have been inundated with emails from disabled people asking for winter cost-of-living and cost-of-disability payment. Many will be forced to choose between heating and eating this Christmas. They also want a permanent cost-of-disability

appropriate in my view. It would benefit people by up to €746 which would make a real difference, particularly in a cost-of-living crisis as people see prices continue to increase as the Government sits by and does nothing. Indeed, it does worse than that because … need the first €40,000 that people earn to be exempt from USC, providing targeted support for individuals during this cost-of-living crisis. There are many measures, which the Minister will be well familiar with, through which revenue can be generated to fund this proposal. For example

handout dressed up as housing policy. It will do absolutely nothing for ordinary workers and families, who are being crushed by a cost-of-living crisis. The Government is proposing a temporary 9% VAT rate for the supply and construction of apartments. We are told this … backwards to deliver for developers, what is it doing for workers? It is doing absolutely nothing. Workers are being hammered by a cost-of-living crisis. There are skyrocketing rents, soaring childcare costs, record grocery bills and mortgage rates that have gone through the roof under this Government

people and the communities we represent - people who feel the reality of the housing crisis or the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis, people with less money in their bank accounts at the end of the week or the month, with grocery and energy bills, insurance … alternative vision and for an active State that can provide for those in need, that can build homes, tackle the cost-of-living crisis and provide public services and those climate action measures that seem to have slipped off this Government's agenda but are so patently necessary

that years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government have left us with this disastrous housing and homelessness crisis, with a cost-of-living crisis imposing misery and hardship on working-class people and on the least well-off, and with people with disabilities being forced … snap hits, afraid to turn on the heating because they cannot afford to pay the bills. They will not be getting a cost-of-living support during the Christmas period. Deputy Donohoe cannot escape responsibility for this legacy. The truth, I am sorry to say, is that

views on that. As the new Minister for Finance, I ask that he looks at energy credits and looks again at the cost of living and the difficulties we are having. We have seen the rise of the cost of living. I sincerely wish the best

that we have the best people for the job but it is not all about top dogs and the CEO. In a cost-of-living crisis, will the Minister of State outline the reasoning behind these salary bumps, some of which are over 33%? This morning, I listened … radio outlining that more and more families, particularly middle-income families, are seeking its help because of the massive increases in the cost of living in respect of electricity, heating and grocery bills. In Kerry alone, over 20,500 dinners were provided to families across the county this

between eating and turning on the heating. An increase of at least €16 per week was needed to keep up with the cost of living, while additional increases were also needed in child benefit and a targeted second tier payment should have also been a priority for this … respect of working families and low-income households. These families and individuals raise their concerns with me on a daily basis. The cost of living for many is simply out of control and energy bills are through the roof for many people. Many hope and pray

lives in a bubble in this House. Is it that it does not know or does not care that there is a cost-of-living crisis? Families are struggling to make ends meet, grocery prices are through the roof and we have some of the highest energy prices … Europe, yet there is not a single cost-of-living support in this Bill or in the budget. Families are falling behind with rent, mortgages and energy bills. We should always remember that the measure of a nation is how it looks after its most vulnerable

once again. There was no increase in child benefit, no credible plan to tackle child poverty and no urgency in confronting the cost-of-living emergency. Energy prices are rising again; by more than 12% this winter. More than 300,000 households are in electricity arrears and almost … saving for retirement but rejects this design. Taking money from low-paid workers and locking it away for six months during a cost-of-living crisis is unfair. We believe the State, through the NTMA, should manage these funds safely and transparently for the public good - not hand

tolls on the roads people need to use to get to work. The contracts which allow these unacceptable, punitive increases during a cost-of-living crisis are just another legacy of bad economic policy decisions made by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. Private toll companies have … expense of motorists. Then, to make matters worse, the Government is doing nothing whatsoever to deal with the other cost-of-living pressures that families are facing. We had a budget with €9 billion in additional spending. What did the average worker or family receive in return

thank my colleague, an Teachta Pa Daly, for bringing forward this motion. It is timely. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis the least we should be able to expect from any decent Government is that it would not make things worse. Yet, somehow, at every … insurance companies are making a healthy and handsome profit. The toll operators are doing quite nicely, thank you; there is no cost-of-living crisis there. It is the people I represent in north County Dublin who have been forced into their cars, having been left with absolutely

trucks and delivering food and so on to shops, it is even worse. That is going to put more pressure on the cost of living because, at the end of the day, it is the consumer who will have to pay those costs. If the Government is serious … about doing something about the cost of living, it needs to support this motion and act on these issues. Coming in here and telling us the Government is doing its best and that things are not as bad as we are trying to paint it is not going

limited transport services we have. My constituents are bearing the brunt of motor costs and it is completely unfair, especially in a cost-of-living crisis. Households are struggling to pay their bills, fill their tanks and keep food on the table and it is unacceptable. Families … swimming pools. Parents want their children to have the same opportunities that they had and they are being compromised. The current cost-of-living crisis is affecting every aspect of people's lives and motoring is definitely at the forefront of this. Parents in defective homes are already

make any wonder out of it. The cost of the fuel they must pay each day and tax is driving up the cost of living. Fuel is the main driver of the increase in the cost of living. I have no problem in the world in saying that

thresholds for persons aged 70 and over were last revised, and the rationale for not indexing thresholds to inflation, pension adjustments or cost of living changes. [64882/25

Minister for Social Protection if an emergency winter payment to offset the withdrawal of once off payments such as the disability cost-of-living payment will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64546/25

revised in recent budgets; if she accepts that the current income thresholds are no longer reflective of the significant rises in the cost of living, energy, insurance, inflation and healthcare expenses; and if she will outline any plans to review these limits to ensure a fairer and more

Minister for Transport if he will consider extending the short hop zone to Newbridge and surrounding areas to aid with the cost-of-living of commuters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62392/25

Social Protection if he will consider reviewing the income disregards for carers and people with disabilities in light of the increased cost of living to ensure that social protection supports do not act as a disincentive to work or education; and if he will make a statement

will introduce a cost of disability lump sum payment in the run up to Christmas, to reduce the impact of the increased cost of living on disabled people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62271/25

Minister for Social Protection the measures her Department is taking to assist low- and middle-income households struggling with the rising cost of living, particularly in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61549/25

taken to ensure that executive pay levels within commercial State bodies remain proportionate to public-service standards and consistent with the wider cost-of-living pressures faced by citizens. [62573/25

Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in view of continued elevated cost-of-living pressures, specifically high housing costs, rental inflation and utility bills, and noting commentary that households in regions like Cork are increasingly squeezed: if his Department has compiled

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection to introduce additional supports to assist hard pressed senior citizens with the cost of living crisis; if he will consider the fact that the cost of food, heating, electricity and everything else is on the increase, including an additional

pension has been increased as part of budget 2026; and his views on whether the assessment should be increased in line with cost-of-living increases. [60608/25

Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount his Department paid towards a cost-of-living allowance and local post allowance to his departmental officials posted at the Irish Embassies in Pretoria, Beijing, Buenos Aires and Brasilia in 2024, in tabular

Employment if his Department will review the operation of the national minimum wage to ensure that it keeps pace with inflation and cost-of-living pressures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59043/25

Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to consider regional cost-of-living adjustments in assessing eligibility for HAP and social housing supports for single and married earners in high-rent areas, who fall just above national thresholds but face housing insecurity

increase the social housing eligibility thresholds nationally, particularly in light of recent increases in the working family payment and the ongoing cost-of-living pressures; if consideration is being given to introducing an annual review mechanism to ensure thresholds keep pace with inflation and wage adjustments