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cost-of-living crisis is impacting families of all backgrounds. The bite is being felt at the petrol pump, at the grocery till, in the utility bills and beyond. For working families, one of the most expensive monthly outlays is childcare fees. Families in Limerick with both parents … those availing of a childminder, the fee is closer to €250 per week, which is a significant expense, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis that has stripped families of available income. These are, of course, families who have been fortunate enough to secure childcare places

doors and the same issue came up time and time again, affecting constituents in every corner of the constituency: the cost of living. A new report from Barnardos today outlines just how much pressure families are under. It is absolutely shocking. Up to 80% of parents believe their … children have been negatively impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. They are parents in every corner of the country, in all our communities, who are struggling and whose children are struggling. Thirty per cent of people said they did not have enough food to feed their children

even when, on paper, their shopping lists and shopping bills have stayed the same. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis that is putting enormous pressure on households across the country. Pensioners are making difficult choices every week. Families are stretching every single euro … France and Austria. Both countries recognised something important, namely, that transparency builds trust and allows people to make informed choices. The cost-of-living crisis is out of control and people often feel that the system is stacked against ordinary consumers. This Bill is just one small, practical

interactions that the disability matters committee has had, we listened to people talking about their lived experience. We also dealt with the cost-of-living issue at the disability matters committee this week. I do not think I need to go into the absolute need for a cost

country. These are real jobs, real wages and real families in my area. We cannot simultaneously say we care about the cost of living but then vote to put people's jobs at risk. Deputies in favour of the motion really need to tell their constituents that they … renewable energy more easily. I will welcome the development and progression of the Bill. While we are talking about the cost of living, thousands of apartment dwellers are waiting for solar plug-in to be legalised. I know there is an ISO standard that needs to be removed

clear to the Dáil before the summer recess our position on that and how we deal with that. The permanent reductions in cost of living the Government has introduced include free schoolbooks at primary and secondary level, expansion of free hot school meals, universal childcare subsidy … free HRT. I could go on in terms of the interventions the Government has done to create a permanent reduction in the cost of living, notwithstanding the huge increases. We have had the Covid pandemic. The supply-chain crisis led to inflation. The war in Ukraine

their industrial policy to continue to roll out energy-intensive data centres around the country, it is becoming a cost-of-living issue. We have been going on for years about the climate impacts. The Tánaiste's former colleague, Paschal Donohoe, talked about the water demands of data … centres but this is now becoming a serious cost-of-living issue. If it is Government policy to allow unfettered growth in data centres, what is it going to do to ensure that it does not impose additional costs on households already struggling to pay their bills

thank Independent Ireland for bringing forward this motion and giving us the opportunity to talk about these very important issues regarding the cost-of-living pressures people are facing day in and day out. We would take a different approach to dealing with this crisis from … putting families and students under even more pressure. There has been promise after promise by the Government about helping people with the cost of living. What it actually did made matters worse. We really need the kinds of actions that we are talking about

childcare. There are 500,000 people who are in arrears on their electricity and gas bills. We need more than once-off cost-of-living payments and temporary excise cuts. We need a radical transformation of how this country is run. Instead of the Ireland for the rich … morning’s EPA report shows the Government has no interest in cutting fossil fuel dependency to protect us from the climate and cost-of-living crises. It is going to miss the 2030 emissions target by more than half and possibly by three quarters. A pathetic 4% reduction

People living with a disability face a double disadvantage. They face lower employment rates combined with a higher cost of living, as the Minister knows. Those living with a disability are entitled to an adequate standard of living, like the rest of us. That standard includes safe, accessible … budget. It did so by withdrawing critical emergency supports for workers and families and through the withdrawal of €1,400 worth of cost-of-living supports for people with a disability. These actions have directly impacted the quality of life of those living with a disability. These actions

risk of poverty. Yet, instead of strengthening supports, the Government has ripped them away. The energy credits, lump-sum supports and cost-of-living measures are gone. People with disabilities are now effectively facing a loss in supports of more than €1,400 per year compared with previous … disability public consultation is a delay tactic. The Government knows the vulnerable are suffering and finding it hard to cope with the cost-of-living, yet every individual with a disability must fight for supports. Residential places are getting scarce. Respite care is at times impossible

Five hundred of these people live with parents who are over 80 years of age. Of course, the cost-of-living crisis has severely impacted people with disabilities. It is literally a case of heating or eating or charging an electric wheelchair or eating. The cost of home … chicken is up 33%, beef is up 32% and lamb is up 52%. On top of all that, the Government withdrew all cost-of-living supports in budget 2026, hitting workers, families and people with disabilities very hard. Families are being put to the pin of their collar

struggling. They are telling the Government that they are. Failure number two was cutting supports in budget 2026. The Government removed cost-of-living payments which are worth around €1,400 a year to disabled people. While costs remain constant and unavoidable, supports are taken away. That … once-off measures. Disabled people are saying clearly that this is not a temporary crisis. There is permanent pressure from a cost-of-living perspective, so why is the Government still treating it like a once-off emergency? A once-off payment might help for a week

emergency intervention designed to claw back excess profits from energy companies and return that money to ordinary people during the cost-of-living crisis. That was the entire purpose of the scheme. It was supposed to provide rapid emergency relief for families who were being hammered over … finally commit to using this fund for the purpose for which it was intended, that is, direct emergency energy credits and a cost-of-living support for struggling households

council rent by 25%. It will mean thousands of euro extra per year for many families at a time of a cost-of-living crisis that people simply will not be able to afford. It is not just South Dublin County Council. We have seen this in Dublin … completely unaffordable rates. How are people meant to be able to afford massive increases in their rents at a time of a cost-of-living crisis

October budget, which was worth €9.4 billion, left disabled people €1,400 worse off in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. For months, disabled people and their advocates have told their stories of choices between heating and eating. They have appealed to the Government again … years. It knows what the additional cost of disability is. Disabled people cannot wait. The Government refused to give them an emergency cost-of-living payment and now it is asking them to wait for a permanent payment. That is not acceptable. They are under pressure

figures demonstrate the scale of the rip-off that our Irish householders face. While Irish workers and families struggle in an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, energy companies are making obscene profits. Surely if the Government were concerned about the well-being of its citizens, it would step … Government inaction and a failure to hold them to account. With no election on the horizon, citizens are suffering through a cost-of-living in crisis while the Government sits back and watches

account. These companies are making millions upon millions of euro on an annual basis. Every time energy costs increase, so does the cost of living from food to clothing to services. This gouging is damaging lives and our economy. They must be regulated through legislation. How many times … times the network costs of data centres. How can this be justified? How could the Government cut energy credits during a cost-of-living crisis with over 300,000 households in energy debt? I am sure more will follow when the figures are published in the next quarter

turn on their heating simply because they cannot afford the bills. It is clear the Government has no plan to address the cost-of-living crisis that is impacting so many workers, self-employed people, carers and older people. This is why people took to the streets. They … grocery payment on top of the child benefit. These are the real and practical measures that can immediately bring down the cost of living for so many people who are struggling in this State right now. These are the measures that put the worker and the carer

reduce the burden of high energy costs on vulnerable households. Then, this really progressive and useful tax was just stopped but the cost-of-living crisis has never stopped. Energy prices have never returned to what they were prior to the war on Ukraine. Fossil fuel companies continue … many occasions in this House, I have called for a crackdown on profiteering by energy companies in the midst of this cost-of-living crisis. Time and again, we have seen them hike their prices despite very healthy profits. Just last week, when another price rise was announced

motion. The vast majority of people recognise that we need the Government to take action to deal with the ever-growing cost-of-living crisis. The previous budget, which was introduced here last October, did absolutely nothing for ordinary people and workers. It was an example of Government … contractors. I know many people from my community who went out onto the streets to demand that something be done because the cost of living, especially the cost of energy, was putting so much pressure on so many people. While Government talks about targeted measures for the agricultural

weeks for them to be paid in. They have not been paid since before Covid by any family. In a cost-of-living crisis that was a massive surprise for those families. There is also what seems to be a now annual threat around third level fees … education and the workers who are working in education cannot afford to live. If the Government does not recognise there is a cost-of-living crisis maybe it should take a walk down Grafton Street and turn off it. They could wait and see the people

will be critical of my Bill, on which I look forward to constructively working when it comes to the House. For cost-of-living reasons, we need to be less dependent on global fuel markets. This is where we have an opportunity to lead. As I have said … better system. By using smarter solutions like long duration, battery energy storage systems, BESS, and demand products, we would help the cost of living, directly. We need to support local and direct energy infrastructure so that energy can be used where it is generated, thereby reducing pressure

that have been coming in. These are from ordinary working people who are living with fear, desperation and pressure because of the cost-of-living crisis. We wonder whether the Government gets the same emails we do and whether it can be dealing with the same issues … breaking point. Where are the €200 a month fees that were promised for childcare? That was to be part of the cost-of-living package also

Government seems to be blissfully unaware, there is a cost-of-living crisis. We know this from the numbers of people in energy arrears. We also know this from the figures from Barnardos and other agencies. This is backed up by the survey on income and living conditions … question is simple. In light of the announcement of a surplus last week, has the Minister given any consideration to a cost-of-living payment for those vulnerable households at risk of poverty