As the Dáil prepares to rise now for the summer, the thing on everybody's mind is runaway prices and the sky-high cost of living. Working households really struggle now to make ends meet and they hear from the Taoiseach time and again as he digs in and refuses to include a cost-of-living package in October's budget. Today, a report published by the Irish League of Credit Unions reveals the big pressure on parents with the enormous cost of sending their children to school. This follows reports from the ESRI, Barnardos, the Society of St. Vincent De Paul and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, all of which reflect the real, present and growing pressure on families. Yesterday, the Taoiseach described prices as being at a relatively elevated level. Those are his words. That was one for the books. Let me break it to him: prices are not relatively elevated, they are through the roof. The price of a litre of milk is now higher than a litre of petrol. People here pay among the highest energy prices in Europe and 450,000 customers are in arrears on their bills, yet the Government proposes to cancel their lifeline of energy credits. The Taoiseach and his Government have convinced themselves, in their own out-of-touch way, that things are not actually as bad as people make out. Well, they are. We are contacted day in, day out by people who are fleeced, stressed and pushed to the brink. I will share some of their experiences if the Taoiseach cares to listen. Amanda says: We constantly leave bills unpaid or late. The children wait weeks for new clothing and footwear. We both work fulltime. I spent over €220 on shopping last week. There’s nothing left to make a meal today as shopping day is tomorrow. We don't even have diluted juice left. Only for loans from my mother most weeks we would be hungry or sitting in the dark. Fiona says: My shopping now costs €300 a week! I used to get by on €200 a week. That’s a huge jump. I cannot believe I’m spending over €1000 a month on food! Brian says: It’s gone beyond a joke. We’re drowning trying just to keep a roof over the kids’ heads and put food on the table. Something has to change big time. Joanne says: Every time I go to the shop prices have gone up. €9 for a bottle of shampoo! Don’t get me started on electricity bills, the cost of sending the kids to school, or the price of fuel! Why are people going out to work at all? Now, that is real pressure. Amanda, Fiona, Brian and Joanne speak to the real-life experience of tens of thousands - hundreds of thousands - of households. Then the kick in the teeth for people is that the Taoiseach flatly tells them the Government is not going to help when the State and Government clearly have the resources to help. There is a surplus of €8 billion and the Government proposes to throw ordinary working families under the bus now and come budget day. That simply cannot happen. Tá brú ollmhór ar theaghlaigh de bharr phraghasanna atá ag dul i méid arís agus arís eile. Caithfidh an Rialtas pacáiste costais maireachtála a chur san áireamh sa bhuiséad. On this, the Taoiseach's last appearance before the Dáil until September, I want him to clearly commit to including a comprehensive cost-of-living package in the budget.
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Sorry, are you the guy who was giving bankers back their bonuses?
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Níl cliú ag an Taoiseach agus níl suim aige ach an oiread sa bhrú atá ar theaghlaigh. The Taoiseach's answer demonstrates again that he could not care less. It is spin and rhetoric from the Government again. I raised this with the Taoiseach yesterday, I raised it today and I will raise it every single day I have to for as long as working people and families are under so much pressure that they wonder whether they can put a meal on the table for their children. I cited the evidence. Do not mind us as the Opposition. The League of Credit Unions, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Barnardos and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service are all dealing with this on the front line and the Taoiseach refuses to hear it. The Government has the resources to intervene and make a difference. Should the worst emerge in terms of tariffs, which I am very aware of, the real casualty again will be the Irish working class, Irish working people and young people-----
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-----because they have a Government that cares more about the high rollers, big bankers and squadrons of super junior Ministers than it does about struggling households. I cited real-life examples-----
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-----and I want a response from the Taoiseach for them.
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Working people are hungry.
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Do you?
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What is more fundamental is your refusal to respond to the crisis in Irish households.
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To increase rents.
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And ramp up rents. Good man.
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Belatedly.
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Sanction them.
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The Taoiseach is passing the buck. Sanction them.
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That is a cop-out.
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They are not committing a genocide.
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