I want to start by saying to the Tánaiste that the Government has lost a Minister of State who said clearly that the leadership of the Government was not listening. When I was talking to the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach earlier during the confidence motion and reading out the experience of the cost-of-living crisis of a nurse who had worked for years for the HSE in this country, he and the Taoiseach were having a grand old chat rather than-----

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Well, it is true. A couple of people have been in contact with me and I want the Tánaiste to listen when I outline their experiences. A constituent who contacted me this morning said: Now what about the rest of the people Pensioners like myself Every time l go into the supermarket items are going up. I can't afford to buy meat anymore. Maybe you could ask Michael Martin to walk around the supermarket with me to see the price of food. This is her experience. For the first time in her life she is not able to buy the very basics in the supermarket. She wants to know what the Government is going to do to address the cost-of-living crisis for her and for people like her. I want to read the words of another nurse who, despite doing everything right, cannot keep her head above the water. I work on average 60 hours a week for the last 3 years. I haven't taken a week off in that time as I work agency shifts during my annual leave. My commute to work is 100km each way. I have €200 in my bank account to do me until the end of the month but will need €400 just to drive to work. I'm contemplating sleeping in my car between shifts just to save some money. I don't know what to do, me and my partner are very frugal. We only buy our meat from the 75% off section and freeze it, We don't eat out, We've cut our food portions smaller, We've agreed that when we run out of oil we won't be refilling it. I look online and see my fellow nurses living it up in Australia wondering if we made the right decision to stay and work in Ireland. These are real people who are massively struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. A full-time nurse, who has not taken holidays in three years as she uses her annual leave to do agency work, should not be in this situation regarding buying food, turning on the heating and meeting friends. For some time now, the Social Democrats have been putting forward proposals and asking the Government to implement them. We have been asking for a €400 energy credit for the 50% of households with lower incomes. This measure would help people who are really squeezed. Even before the current crisis, there were already 320,000 households in electricity bill arrears. Disabled people were up to €1,400 worse off after the budget. I really would ask the Government to look at these and at our proposals for rolling out solar panels. Every home, farm building and small business in the country should have them. Our proposals to double the grants for these should be taken on board. Ní foláir don Rialtas éisteacht. Ní foláir don Rialtas gníomhú. The Government must listen and the Government must act.

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She is a pensioner.

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I did not say it would not help anyone.

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