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caught up in not getting access to education, housing adaptations, timely assessments or transport in their communities. There is a cost-of-living crisis as well. There is an incredible number of issues. This committee has to be more than procedural. It has to have real results

Protection Commission to examine any unfair pricing practices. This is like "Back to the Future". We heard all of this when the cost-of-living crisis started five years ago. Ultimately, the Government refused to do anything at all. Report after report seemingly vindicated energy companies and supermarkets

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Alongside the cost-of-living crisis we are in that moment, we are now faced with rent hikes by Dublin City Council and there have been rent hikes elsewhere. This affects senior citizens. I mentioned to the Minister of State a couple

significantly lower income available to qualifying single income householders relative to couples. It is widely acknowledged that the household costs and cost-of-living challenges for people living alone are quite significant. When we compare a couple, for example, versus a single income household, there is quite

including agencies such as the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and also research submitted by advocacy groups around this. The data shows the cost of living for a single person is more than the individualised cost of two people living together, as the Deputy said. For this reason

shops. He has additional energy costs because he has to power his wheelchair. He is facing all these cost-of-living pressures. The Government hammered those people in the budget by taking €1,400 away from them. Will the Government concede their demand for an emergency payment before

involved in that process as we try to design, for the first time, a cost-of-disability payment. I appreciate the cost-of-living challenges are real people, which is why we took a number of measures in the budget that were targeted, including expanding the eligibility

surfing and those living in substandard, inadequate accommodation. Rents have increased in Cork, while supply is falling. Add that to the mounting cost-of-living pressures and it is the perfect storm for increasing homelessness. We see what the Government is doing on 1 March. The storm will

forced into temporary accommodation. It is an incredible situation. The Government refuses to change the income limits despite the realities of the cost-of-living crisis. This is engineering a section of society which is now falling into homelessness and that is policy-driven. I want to just

only has a GP card, so it would cost him €40 every time he has one done. He is struggling with the cost of living and he cannot afford to pay this. We have a population of 41,000 in Swords, of whom 10% are aged over

looking for lifelong supports that they still have not got. The Government goes on about one-off payments during the cost-of-living crisis but these are all one-off measures so that they do not exist for other people as well. A figure of €600 per year

consider bringing forward a prioritisation framework for grid connections, particularly as we have a crisis in the context of housing and the cost of living? We have all heard about the problems with the MetroLink, for example, and the energy that will be needed for it. There

Instead of prioritising the corporate bottom line, I want the Minister to prioritise ordinary people who are going through a cost-of-living crisis. We have seen data centres expand to the point where they account for one third of energy demand. Dealing with this matter is within

streets. They genuinely do feel they need to be on the streets. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Disabled people tell us they feel their income is €1,400 less this year than last year due to the budget, which has been devastating

Minister was asked to approve it on 23 October. The pensioners are really upset that the increase they badly need in the cost-of-living crisis, to keep food on the table, pay bills and keep their homes heated, has not been signed off on by the Minister

problem for our climate. It is causing ordinary people's bills to go higher and higher. It is adding to the cost-of-living crisis. This year, people's electricity bills will 10% higher than they were last year. Almost 300,000 people are in arrears on their

Government with a choice: ban the bulk purchasing of homes and help those struggling with a near 50% increase in the cost of living or do not ban bulk purchasing. That is the choice the Government can make. If history is anything to go by, I regret

costs. The Government knows this and its inaction makes a mockery of its stated commitment to protecting vulnerable pensioners and addressing the cost-of-living pressures they face. The pension schemes are well regulated, they have plenty of money in them and there is no cost

remain without the payments they were promised. This delay contradicts the Government's stated commitment to protecting vulnerable pensioners and addressing the cost-of-living pressures currently being faced by them. The Communication Workers' Union secured what is widely recognised as a reasonable and overdue restoration of pension … between pensioner's pay and active pay wherever possible. The current impasse risks compounding financial hardship for pensioners who already face rising costs of living, including higher heating bills, and constrained budgets. The Minister of State corresponded with the pensioners on Monday last. He signed

Post pensioners and 2.1% increase for Eir pensioners are minuscule in the greater scheme of things. We are in a cost-of-living crisis. The cost of absolutely everything has gone up and while it is pennies to the Government, it is massive to these people who served

high inflation rates. The delay in payment is causing real hardship. Pensioners have been waiting for months for these increases. Both the cost of living and bills are going up all the time. When will the Minister, Deputy Chambers, sign off on these increases

must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding the cost-of-living crisis. On Thursday, 5 February 2026, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division

meet those who are in difficulty, and that is the key. Once-off cost-of-living measures are not fiscally sustainable for the next number of years. The €3 billion and €4 billion we allocated for two years, we just cannot keep doing that. We have a strong

while hiking up the pay of CEOs. We need a debate and discussion on the Government's very unfair approach to the cost-of-living crisis

Government are sitting on this when these pensioners, who worked hard all their lives and have been hit with the cost-of-living crisis, have not got the pension increase they were expecting. Can the Taoiseach confirm that the Government is going to sign off on this