The question I keep asking is what this Government has against motorists and people in rural communities. People in constituencies such as Cavan-Monaghan have no choice but to use their cars to get work, do their grocery shopping and bring children to childcare or after-school activities. There is no alternative to using the car, but it is getting more and more expensive to do so. The Government is actually making people's lives harder. The cost of car insurance, for example, went up more than 9% last year. We now have the highest insurance costs in five years. It is double the European average. There has been a complete failure on the part of the Minister of State and the Government to tackle the cost of insurance. I know that by looking at my own bill, so the Minister of State can stop shaking his head. People know that the cost of their insurance is going up because they see it in their bill. While the Minister of State shakes his head, they are burdened by those costs. On top of all the costs that workers and families have, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are actually making things worse. They are putting up petrol and diesel prices by increasing carbon tax. These are supposedly behavioural taxes, but they make no sense whatsoever when people have no option but to drive. They are just putting additional financial pressure on people who are already struggling. Now the Government is allowing increases in tolls on the roads people need to use to get to work. The contracts which allow these unacceptable, punitive increases during a cost-of-living crisis are just another legacy of bad economic policy decisions made by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. Private toll companies have recorded millions of euro in after-tax profits in the past year and motor insurance companies continue to make huge profits all at the expense of motorists. Then, to make matters worse, the Government is doing nothing whatsoever to deal with the other cost-of-living pressures that families are facing. We had a budget with €9 billion in additional spending. What did the average worker or family receive in return? A kick in the teeth. Nothing out of that went towards them. Housing, childcare, energy and grocery costs are putting people under pressure and rising all the time, while the Government sits on its hands and its members shake their heads at reality. People are struggling and the Government has turned its back on them. The toll increases and the carbon tax increases must be scrapped. This motion allows TDs from all parties to stand up for their constituents. The real message that needs to come out of this debate is that it is time to give people who are under pressure a break. This is the Government's chance to do so.

Sentiment score: -0.14