I thank Deputy Nash for his considerable work on this motion and for bringing forward the Labour Party mini-budget. Too many workers and self-employed people who keep this country going, day in, day out, have nothing left by the end of the week, and struggle to simply put food on the table. The older people who built this Republic are forced to choose between heating and eating, while carers, who work 24-7 and save the State billions every year, get little or no recognition of the extraordinary care they provide. These are the people the Government left behind, not just in the budget of 2026, but also in the recent fuel supports, as announced. Those protests were not just about fuel costs. They were also about much more than that. They were about energy bills, renting, house prices, childcare fees, education costs and more. Fundamentally, the social contract has been torn up by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Previously, a decent salary was enough to help people buy a home but now it is just enough to get them from bill to bill. This is what shocks me most about the attitude of the Government. The Government has no idea of the level of anger and frustration out there. The people who are coming to my office in Kildare South are barely surviving, yet these same working people would have been described as comfortable not so many years ago. Every single day of the week, I have people telling me they are under pressure - young families and workers who earn too much to qualify for social housing but nowhere near enough to buy their own home; small businesses stretched to their limits, with some forced to close; and carers and older people afraid to turn on their heating simply because they cannot afford the bills. It is clear the Government has no plan to address the cost-of-living crisis that is impacting so many workers, self-employed people, carers and older people. This is why people took to the streets. They are looking for a lifeline but the Government simply has not delivered for these workers. Our motion brings forward a number of measures that will support the people who need help the most. We need to put money back in the pockets of working people by indexing income tax bands and credits. We need targeted energy credits to help struggling workers and low-income households to keep the lights on and make their houses comfortable once again - those who are lucky enough to have a home. We need energy credits that will support the small businesses that need help the most at this time. We need to make "free" education actually free by abolishing exam fees and cutting school transport fees. We need to bring down the cost of the weekly food shop for working families with a €100 grocery payment on top of the child benefit. These are the real and practical measures that can immediately bring down the cost of living for so many people who are struggling in this State right now. These are the measures that put the worker and the carer of this country first for once, where they deserve to be. I have listened to Minister after Minister say they cannot bring in a mini-budget in advance of the formal budget in October. It is time for the Government to put working people, those who have worked so hard to shape this country and the carers who save the State billions, first. For many of them, it is raining heavily now. If they have to wait until October for help, many will not be able to put their heads above the floods.

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