I must note the irony of a Fianna Fáil Minister coming in here and trying to lecture the Labour Party on fiscal responsibility. It is unbelievable. Fianna Fáil crippled the country and allowed the Labour Party to try to bring it back from the brink and the Minister of State comes in here and tries to lecture us on fiscal responsibility. This is a vital and timely motion. It is clear to many of us in this House that we urgently need intervention to support ordinary working people in this country. I was genuinely shocked when the news came through that there are to be increases in school transport costs. The Minister of State told us about a transport support scheme for school bus operators. What about the parents who have to pay these school bus costs?
Sentiment score: 0.24
What about those parents who are struggling to get their children to school, predominantly children in rural areas who the Minister of State professes to represent? Education in Ireland is supposed to be free. It is clear to parents across the country that it is only free in name. Prior to the general election in 2024, the then Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government implemented supports to households to cope with soaring energy bills. Since the election, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have cut those supports from right under families while energy costs rise. These increases affect the lowest income households the hardest at a time when one in seven children lives in households that are below the poverty line, with over 264,000 children living in households experiencing deprivation. I repeat that there are 264,000 children in this country experiencing deprivation. We had post-election tax cuts for industries that are raking in the money and for which nobody in this country voted. The Labour Party understands many small businesses, farmers and contractors are under pressure and need support. We backed the package, and the Minister of State will see for a fact that we voted for it to support them, but the lack of targeted measures is galling. There is the example of the Panda waste collection company increasing monthly fees due to the fuel crisis and being outside of the scope of the support package. An increase of €12 a month is not nominal. How are you supposed to absorb additional household fees if you are already struggling to heat your home or put food on the table for your children? The cost of groceries in this country has skyrocketed in the past five years. The price of chicken breast has increased from €5 to €12 or more. That increase is a snowball continuing to build. We have proposed to the Government that it provide a one-off €100 grocery supplement to child benefit, restore the €100 previously cut from the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance and remove State examination fees because these are not optional extras but everyday necessities for people. On the face of them, these measures are normal and would help ordinary working people, but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have never represented the ordinary working people in this country. The Minister of State can throw his eyes to heaven all he wants, but I know that for a fact. They have never represented ordinary working people in this country-----
Sentiment score: 0.08
-----but we profess to and do represent ordinary working people in this country - for example, by putting forward this mini budget, with practical, real-life solutions that will help in the here and now, rather than the Minister of State just throwing his eyes to heaven in the face of the people and the families across this country who are struggling to put food on the table for their children.
Sentiment score: 0.60