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workers and households who have for years been put to the pin of their collar by a spiralling and seemingly perpetual cost-of-living crisis that includes energy bills, rent, house prices, grocery prices, childcare costs, education costs and the cost of disability. I could … negotiating table with the representative bodies. Working people, small businesses, small farmers and so on are at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis and very much have just cause to protest. I think we all - or certainly those on this side of the House - felt

This is a cost-of-living crisis that has been going on for almost five years. The lack of self-awareness on the part of the Government is really frustrating and disappointing. What we saw last week was an expression of how people are struggling … area of housing. I have made the point over and over and we have highlighted it. We are talking about a cost-of-living crisis. Imagine being evicted from your home. You cannot afford to get somewhere to rent so you go into emergency accommodation, which

hoping for a hat-trick. Tá cruachás na gcostas maireachtála ag éirí níos measa, go háirithe ó thaobh tionóntaí de. The cost-of-living emergency is getting worse. The measures the Government announced mean the cost of living will remain stubbornly high for workers and families who cannot … intervene to protect renters? Will it freeze rent increases like Spain has and will it put a moratorium on evictions? What new cost-of-living measures will this Government bring forward for renters? Will it at the very least double the renter’s tax credit, as Labour

cost of living in this country is skyrocketing. Before the war in Iran, 320,000 households were in electricity arrears. People are choosing between heating and eating. The cost of living is impacting more than just energy, though, because there is now the price for education. Exam fees … which had not been in place since before the pandemic, are being reintroduced without warning to parents. The cost of living needs to be discussed this evening

response from the Government to the cost-of-living crisis that has come on top of a cost-of-living crisis is absolutely inadequate. The Government response is miserly in comparison to the scale of suffering in the country. We are seeing rising numbers of people living … from 36% in 2023 to 43%. That was last year, before the current increases, which shows the Government is 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

Government has done a special scheme just for businesses. It is very revealing of the Government's approach to this new cost-of-living crisis. I do not think the Government gets it that for ordinary people this cost-of-living crisis comes on top of an existing … cost-of-living crisis. People are really suffering. People were already really suffering two months ago. We remember the shocking statistic about four in ten parents skipping or cutting back on meals in order to ensure that their kids have enough to eat. We know there are over

families were already struggling long before these latest price hikes arrived. They were struggling because Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael removed vital cost-of-living supports in the most recent budget and actually left working people and families worse off this year than they were last year even … under. Two weeks ago, a Fianna Fáil TD told me in a TV studio that it was premature to talk about a cost-of-living crisis. It is cloud cuckoo land stuff. I ask Government TDs this evening whether they still think it is premature or have they

households across the State are in arrears on their energy bills under the Minister’s watch. This comes after the Government slashed cost-of-living supports in this year's budget. It left households to fend for themselves, including elderly people and people living alone. People with disabilities … were left €1,400 worse off. It was really shameful and the price increases since this war began have turned a cost-of-living crisis into a cost-of-living emergency. Where has the Government been? It has been missing in action for the past two weeks. Throughout

protect consumers. This is very important legislation, especially because it comes at a time households are being hammered by the cost of living. People in my constituency are reporting huge increases in the cost of home heating oil, a doubling in the cost in many cases, with … number of weeks, which will add more to household bills. The Government is completely out of touch with the reality of the cost-of-living crisis across the State. It needs to take action, it needs to hold companies accountable, it needs to scrap the carbon tax increases

Many people in Ireland are now at breaking point from the cost-of-living crisis. This crisis has not just persisted; it has been turbocharged by global instability for sure but also by the Government's policies. Households are struggling on every front, with the price of housing … when Russia unleashed war on Ukraine, the Taoiseach told people to wait for inflation to reduce and when he cut temporary cost-of-living measures, he told people to wait and see. Households in Ireland need a government that intervenes when costs spiral, not a bystander government

course, we have intervened in the cost of living over the past three to four years. More than any other government in Europe, we intervened with our allocations, both in the once-off cost-of-living interventions that we made for over two years at huge cost … supply chains, there has been an inflationary spiral. It has eased considerably in Ireland in inflationary terms, but the impact on the cost of living and the elevated prices remains for many households. We significantly reduced all the medical expenditures that were there five or six years

Minister of State listing off the crumbs that were given out by the Government to those who are being crushed by the cost-of-living crisis is utterly meaningless. I thank Deputy Healy for bringing forward this motion, which People Before Profit strongly supports, as it details … absolutely crushing assault on the cost of living for working people, the least well-off, people with disabilities and pensioners. Prices are up 23% in the past five years. Food prices are up 5% in the past year. Electricity prices are 24% higher in this country than

work, in which to do business for a small business, and in which to live and exist. We need a coherent cost-of-living action plan from this Government but we simply do not get it. Decisions were made in the last budget that really make it very … poorest and most marginalised in our society, those who depend on the State for their income and people with disabilities require additional cost-of-living payments to ensure they can make ends meet. We have acknowledged over many years that there is an additional cost to having

figures now show a 12-month inflation rate of 3.2%. It was a callous and cruel budget that was cut-throat with cost-of-living supports. In defence of his compassionless budget, the Taoiseach acknowledged that these supports have been crucial in responding to the cost-of-living … crisis. Does he think the cost-of-living crisis is over? Does he believe that he has solved it? Does he think that the added costs of disability evaporated? He must believe he fixed that also. The Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, believed that these supports were not fiscally

have all seen both the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the increase in the cost of living. When we go to the fuel tank at home or the petrol pump or when we go to Dunnes or SuperValu, we are seeing it. It is doubly … Gáis. This is how difficult it is for people. The Minister of State has a Government report which tells us that the cost of living for people with disabilities is higher than average. They are obliged to meet additional costs of between

significant fall in disposable income for all households. Workers were hit with frozen tax credits and bands while the temporary cost-of-living supports were withdrawn. In other words, after the budget, families are poorer, not better off. Those are the facts. That matters because the cost … question directly as the Dáil concludes Leaders’ Questions for 2025. Does the Tánaiste accept that his budget left people poorer, that the cost-of-living crisis is still crushing households, and that house prices rising by €31,000 in a single year proves that the promise he made

State's figures on the capitation and the funding, schools are worse off in real terms because of the lack of a cost-of-living package this year. There is a net reduction in the funding for them when we take out the cost-of-living package. Will … Minister of State look at introducing a cost-of-living package for schools this year in light of the cost of energy, insurance and heating

recent budget, which the Deputy again fails to acknowledge, we have already taken a number of measures to assist people with the cost of living, and we have tried to target those most in need, which I believed the Deputy might support. For example, we introduced the largest … benefiting. We have continued with the roll-out of free schoolbooks and free hot meals. All these measures assist families with the cost of living in the here and now. We have expanded the working family payment so more families can qualify. We have increased the State pension

During the last budget, the then Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, claimed there was no need for cost-of-living payments in the budget because, "inflation has now returned to normal rates." He said inflation would be around 2% this year. What a load of rubbish, gaslighting people … that the cost of living was actually becoming more affordable, when the dogs on the street know that it is not. He has now swanned off to Washington to be on €600,000 per year and is not bothered but ordinary people are left with the highest inflation

made a profit of €706 million last year. A profit of €706 million made by a semi-State body during a cost-of-living crisis is absolutely wrong. We then come to the level of taxation on fuel this Government is implementing. It is quite incredible. A reply … Government took in €4.1 billion of taxes on fuel last year, which is the highest total ever, in the jaws of a cost-of-living crisis. Last year, the Government took in €1 billion in carbon taxes, the most it has ever taken, in the jaws

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

Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will bring forward a cost-of-living package, considering inflation is far higher than projected on budget day, at 2.8%, and given the findings of the ESRI that the budget has resulted in income losses

Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the way in which the move from once-off cost-of-living supports to permanent measures has been assessed in terms of its impact on people with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter

change to the Revenue classification for VAT on children’s clothing (details supplied); when this change happened; and if, given the cost of living crisis for many families; his office would consider returning this decision to the previous ruling. [9793/26

Deputy William Aird asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance how fiscal policy will move beyond once-off supports to permanently reduce cost-of-living pressures for low and middle-income households; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10107/26

Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection to reconsider introducing a cost of living disability payment in 2026 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7675/26

financial impact and the inflexibility that stringent policies around collecting children early or late from NCS creches have on parents already experiencing cost of living hikes; her plans to address this; to increase flexibility to support working parents; if she will indicate when the reduction in fees

rate and on the material deprivation rate, specifically in households at highest risk of poverty; if he has given consideration to a cost of living package targeting energy poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2822/26

Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he has given consideration to additional cost-of-living measures, given the increased rates of poverty after housing costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2838/26

with a disability following the outcome of Budget 2026, where there is now evidence that persons with a disability are facing a cost of living crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2595/26

Social Protection if he is considering any emergency measures to help people with disabilities and their families to deal with increasing cost of living; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72863/25

Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will introduce any immediate financial measures to address the increased cost of living faced by people in receipt of disability allowance; the step he intends to take to reduce the gap between current disability allowance income supports

research, analysis, and impact assessments undertaken by his Department in developing proposals for a cost of disability payment; the estimated additional cost of living with a disability these considerations are based on; and if he will publish this information. [2524/26

significant price increases on many of the essentials they sell; if he proposes any direct action to reduce the impact of the cost-of-living on their customers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1400/26

Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Social Protection the fiscal rationale for removing once-off supports for disabled people, given the continuing cost-of-living pressures and the absence of the cost of disability payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [75009/25

Protection if consideration has been given to targeted transitional or seasonal supports for people with disabilities following the withdrawal of once-off cost-of-living payments provided in Budget 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1596/26

provisions apply in cases of financial hardship; his plans to review or increase these income limits in light of rising wages and cost of living pressures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1879/26

Environment if he will take any new measures to reduce or offset energy costs for households in light of the cost-of-living crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72886/25

higher inflation than his predecessor predicted prior to the budget, he will bring in an emergency supplementary budget before Christmas to reinstate cost-of-living payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69658/25

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will bring in an emergency supplementary budget before Christmas in order that emergency winter cost-of-living payments can be made to disabled people and carers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69657/25

senior citizens (over 70), as these limits have not been increased in years and are totally out of line with the cost of living crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72676/25

costs associated with blister packs, as the majority of senior citizens simply cannot afford this payment and are already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72677/25

school year; the measures she is taking to support schools financially through the winter in the absence of a cost-of-living package this year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71049/25

2025/2026 school year; the measures she is taking to support schools through the winter in the absence of a cost-of-living package this year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70746/25

Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Education and Youth given the rise in demand in mental-health needs, social isolation and cost-of-living pressures, if her Department plans to expand youth services, in terms of staff, geographical coverage, types of services such as mental-health support

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he has considered altering tax rates on energy, electricity and fuel in light of the cost-of-living crisis being experienced by people in the State. [63789/25