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food giants, yet it turns around to ordinary people and says, "We have to wait. We're not quite sure if we can give you the money yet." The Government has billions sitting in a surplus while, as I said, one in four children is living in poverty … completely ignoring a cost-of-living crisis and a level of poverty that is completely unacceptable. As I said, it is Scrooge for ordinary people and Santa Claus for the wealthy investors and the big fast-food giants. It is shameful that the Government is not providing

late and nowhere near strong enough. Households are already stretched and we see it not just in energy but across the board: food costs and school costs are up. The costs of getting to work, doing the school run, caring for family and just living in rural Ireland … home. It is not good enough for the Government and the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, to make jokes about these things. Energy poverty and child poverty are growing and people are rationing heat. We have heard some of the stories. Some of us engage with our constituents

last budget, which was a giveaway budget for the developers, a giveaway budget for Google and a giveaway budget for the fast food giants but it took money out of the pockets of ordinary people and targeted disabled people, in particular, with swingeing, mean cuts of over … kids can eat. This is incredible in one of the richest countries in the world in 2026. Over 40% of renters are in poverty or are at risk of poverty and over 300,000 people are in energy arrears. How does all of that translate into people