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start by saying this to everybody who is impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, the cost of energy, childcare, the failure of wages to keep pace with the cost of living, inflation, the cost of groceries and by the inequity we see highlighted in this motion … those who are suffering as a result of the cost-of-living crisis as opposed to those who are profiteering out of it, they should get out on the streets this weekend and demand a change in this Government's priorities in advance of the budget. Those

bringing this motion forward today. Everyone in this House knows and agrees that we are going through a severe and extended cost-of-living crisis. We all want to do everything in our power to protect people most at risk from energy poverty. Many people in the country … heating their homes, travelling to work and meeting other essential household expenses. Such is the scale of the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis more broadly that we now have more than half a million gas and electricity accounts in arrears. The pressures are very real

welcome the fact that the Deputies have given us an opportunity to discuss the cost of living crisis and the energy price hikes, but I will repeat what I said last night: shame on Deputies, some of whom have put forward this motion, for expressing support for Donald … prices that he has driven up by imposing price controls to make things affordable and making those who are profiteering from the cost-of-living misery pay for it, which is also completely absent from the Deputies' motion and the Government's thinking or amendment. We can protect

adequate food on the table for their children, the electricity companies are making record profits? It tells us that the cost-of-living crisis is not a crisis for everyone. In fact, it is an opportunity for those at the top. The cost-of-living crisis, like … robbery of ordinary working-class people and a transfer of wealth from the many to the few. That is what the cost-of-living crisis is about. How can we have record profits in electricity company after electricity company when people are struggling to afford electricity unless something

cost of fuel and energy, as well as increases in public transport fares, adding further pressure to an already severe cost-of-living crisis; and — the Government is directly contributing to this cost-of-living crisis by refusing to introduce price controls on fuel, energy or groceries, abolishing … pension. It is no surprise that more than one in two said that as a result of having this disease and the cost of living crisis, there had been a moderate or severe impact on the financial situation of their family. There were also lots of very reasonable

profiteering that is going on. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and Ministers stand up here and say, "What can we do about the cost of living? Energy costs are going up. It is because of the war in the Middle East. It is because of rising fuel costs." However … people are paying for it. They are paying through higher energy bills, rents, bank fees, insurance premiums and food costs. During the cost-of-living crisis, profiteering and price gouging are going on and we have seen an absolute failure of the Government to tackle that. There

billion to fund €500 energy credits for households. I am sharing time with Deputy Coppinger. The budget is coming up. The cost-of-living crisis impacting huge numbers of people is on everybody's lips. This is, of course, added to the housing crisis blighting the lives … many. People are asking if the Government is going to help those who are struggling. There are many aspects to the cost-of-living crisis. There is the cost of accommodation and housing, the cost of childcare, the cost of public transport and the cost of groceries

money to the people who need it, whether that is hard-pressed households in Arklow or elsewhere in Ireland suffering from the cost-of-living crisis. We need to see an end to the discounted energy rates for data centres and a moratorium on the building … these new facilities to protect the national grid and to meet our climate targets. The Government may claim there is not a cost-of-living crisis anymore but families know differently. Every week, people are paying more for groceries, more for fuel, more for rent and more

that is because there is no excuse. I am not sure if the Minister of State has read the shocking cost-of-living report by Barnardos. Has she read it? Families were asked if the cost-of-living crisis has negatively affected their children. One in five said … that the cost of living has negatively impacted their children. That is up from 12% in 2022. It asked how often people worry about being able to provide their children with daily essentials. Some 29% of parents worry every day about providing their children with essentials. Half

make services more affordable, reliable, accessible and more widely available; notes that: — households, workers, students, pensioners and families continue to face significant cost of living pressures, with rising costs across housing, energy, childcare and everyday essentials; — the Government has chosen to increase the cost of public transport … public transport; — affordable public transport helps to reduce household costs, tackle transport poverty and help workers and families cope with the rising cost of living; and — commuters are being asked to pay higher fares while continuing to endure unreliable and overcrowded services, including so-called "ghost buses" that

price of petrol, diesel or home heating oil on ordinary working people any further in the midst of a years-long cost of living crisis. For families across Ireland, the cost of living, the cost of the very basics, is continuing to spiral. The costs of simply getting … enough. That is why I cannot simply support further increases in carbon tax when so many households are already struggling with the cost of living. They deserve a good government that recognises the pressure that they are under and focuses on solutions that are fair, affordable and practical

envious position. It has the capacity, in terms of a massive budget surplus, to protect people from the cost-of-living crisis. It is probably a position that governments across the world would like to be in. The Government can protect people from the cost-of-living crisis … targeted attack on those people who use public transport. It makes no sense from the point of view of the cost-of-living crisis as it is going to make it worse and it makes no sense from the point of view of the climate crisis

fund a €400 energy credit for low-to-middle income households. These are households that are being squeezed the hardest by the cost-of-living crisis that we are all experiencing. They are hit with price increase after price increase right across the board, while energy companies continue … extraordinary profits go untouched is not inevitable; it is a political choice made by the Government. The energy crisis and the wider cost-of-living crisis are squeezing families from every direction. I see that in my constituency where some of the most deprived areas in the whole

commend my colleague, Deputy Whitmore, on this motion, as well as on her broader work on the cost of living and a just transition. One statistic in this motion should stop us in our tracks, namely, that 323,559 households were in electricity arrears … less exposed to the price of imported gas. That is climate policy, it is energy security and increasingly it is basic cost-of-living policy

clocking up further day by day, just as the electricity meters are, as people who are under pressure from the cost-of-living crisis watch them at home. The Minister of State spoke immediately about this being affected by external markets and geopolitical forces. We are all aware … young families who do not know how they are going to pay their bills and everyone who is suffering from the soaring cost-of-living crisis, the Government is not offering any decent solutions. We have put forward an actual solution here but the Government in its countermotion

Families throughout the country are experiencing a severe cost-of-living crisis. In the teeth of this crisis, the Government withdrew all cost-of-living supports this year, leaving families as much as €1,400 worse off. The Government must now introduce a windfall profits tax on energy

First, we recognise the enormous pressure on families and pensioners because of the cost-of-living crisis, which was fundamentally brought about by two major wars, namely, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the 2026 Middle East conflict between the United States and Iran, which really has caused … ripples across the entire world in terms of energy prices and knock-on effects on the cost of living. Last year, we took very significant measures in the budget to protect the most vulnerable, including pensioners, and we will do similarly in the forthcoming budget next week. That

time when families are struggling with the cost of living and this Government keeps telling us that it is listening, I have to ask, who is it listening to? Is it listening to ordinary households or to the big CEOs? While families are struggling with the cost

essential to maintaining the financial sustainability of the network into the future; — since 2022, passengers have benefited from a 20 per cent cost of living fare reduction, extension of the 90-minute fare, a 50 per cent discount for Young Adults and Students, free travel for children under … fuel, vehicle maintenance and staff costs. In the same period, public transport fares have decreased through various measures, such as the 20% cost-of-living discount, the young adult card discount of 50% and the extension of free travel to all children under nine, which no one opposite

cost-of-living crisis and a climate crisis, one of the things that makes least sense is increasing the cost of public transport. However, that is a decision this Government has made. The Government could have chosen to invest further in public transport and encourage more people … Instead, the Government has decided to place another financial burden on individuals and families who are already struggling through a cost-of-living crisis, with public transport fares set to increase by an average of 15%. This will have a significant impact on those individuals and families

something that is not even really working and that we are not going to be able to sustain indefinitely. We have climate, cost-of-living and energy crises, yet the Government is slapping 15% onto public transport fares because the capital plan for transport is not worth … million per month at the moment and cutting public transport fares, or at the very least sustaining the reduction, is a cost-of-living support that puts money back in the pockets of ordinary workers, students and young people

want to get the detail right and will want to tease through that. I fully accept that we are living through a cost-of-living crisis and I fully accept that that it is real, but alongside that there is data from the CSO published only … However, I fully accept that this is not in any way being put forward by the Government as a response to the cost-of-living crisis but more actually to building up economic resilience over time for households

under the ETS2 derogation, but there is room to do stuff. There are lots of ways of helping people with energy and cost of living and some of them are not related to energy, such as things like income tax proposals and childcare costs. People do not look … Department did what. They look at the overall package that the Government brings forward and we will bring forward a range of cost-of-living measures next week

will not agree on all of it and that is fine and healthy but we agree that we are living through a cost-of-living crisis, that the cost of kerosene and energy is very high, that we need to look at measures to try to assist people … fuel allowance are also important to reach those most at risk of fuel poverty. Not everyone is at risk of that. The cost of living is real for lots of people but some people are acutely at risk of fuel poverty. Trying to reach them in the here

that 75% of carers receive no respite whatsoever and the grant itself has been eaten up by inflation not to mention the cost of living over the past number of years. If we look at the past number of years from 2021, we can see that there … which is a very modest increase that, in fact, does not keep up with inflation and does not take into account the cost of living. It is a very modest request and I ask the Minister to include it in the budget

public transport to reconsider the decision and to reverse this increase in view of the impact this is having on the cost of living and the inevitable situation where more people will be forced to go back into cars on the road because of the cost of public

place for self-employed people who must reduce their hours; the adequacy of these supports in the context of the rising cost of living; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67568/26

increase the weekly rate of Carer's Allowance Benefit to €325 to recognise the additional cost of providing fulltime care in a cost of living crisis. [67385/26

Department is taking to ensure that the current State pension provides an adequate income for older persons in view of the cost of living pressures that pensioners are reporting, particularly for pensioners living in rural areas; and if he will make a full statement on the matter. [67626/26

asked the Minister for Social Protection the added measures his Department hope to introduce in Budget 2027 to help families with the cost of living. [67635/26

payment of statutory redundancy which is capped at €600 per week to take into account inflation, rising wages and the increased cost of living. [66912/26

carer's allowance and carer's benefit to €325 to recognise the additional cost of providing full-time care in a cost of living crisis. [65994/26

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health in the context of the current cost-of-living pressures cited by health sector unions (details supplied) in the lead-up to planned industrial action, the extent to which her Department and the HSE have assessed the potential

Transport the steps he will take to provide for an increase in CIÉ pensions to reflect the significant increases in the cost-of-living in recent years; whether such an increase is currently under consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64410/26

Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport to reconsider the introduction of a 15% increase in adult public transport fares given the current cost-of-living crisis. [64459/26

asked the Minister for Transport if he will intervene to stop fare hikes of 15% hitting public transport users in 2027, considering cost of living pressures, the recent tax break to motorists, and the imperative from a climate perspective to promote sustainable transport. [64505/26

Finance if he is considering abolishing USC for workers earning less than €100,000 in order to help workers with increases in costs of living. [68656/26