I will begin, as others have, by expressing my condolences in regard to the person who lost their life in the awful tragedy, the accident on Talbot Street today. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the deceased. We wish those who are recovering a speedy recovery in hospital. It was a terrible tragedy this afternoon. I also thank the Deputies involved in bringing forward this motion because Government has failed to end the rip-off and get prices under control. To make matters worse, it brought forward a budget that left people worse off. It claimed prices were stabilising and things were getting better. That is how it justified abandoning ordinary workers in this year's budget to look after those at the top. That is how it justified pulling cost-of-living supports like energy credits and disability payments. It is how it justified handing out all the tax breaks to investors and developers, giving nothing to workers. Prices have not levelled off. Inflation is 50% higher than the Government forecast on budget day. Its projections that it built its budget on now look like wishful thinking. We are now seeing prices going up and up, totally out of line with targets and what we see in other European countries. Despite all of this, the Government has dug in its heels and refused to act. It is still turning a blind eye to the fact that people are working every hour God sends them and still cannot keep up. People have been left struggling through the winter months by a Government that refuses to help. Inflation figures do not come close to showing the real pressures people are under. Food price hikes are still racing ahead of general inflation in a way that cannot continue and ordinary workers and families are getting crucified. They are hit hardest because they spend a large share of their wages just trying to put food on the table. Parents trying to keep and feed their families on modest wages are drowning and this Government looks the other way. Energy prices are completely out of control. Ireland has gone from being one of the cheapest for electricity to being one of the most expensive. Hundreds of thousands of people right now are behind on their energy bills and it seems the Government does not care. More than that are able to barely just keep up and are trying not to fall into arrears. This was all because there was no election. The Government pulled energy credits even though bills were higher this year than they were the year before and more people than ever are struggling but the Government did not care. Insurance costs are through the roof. Car, home and health insurance - you name it, it has gone up. What else has gone up? Bank profits, developer profits, insurance profits and large supermarket profits. They are all raking it in. Both the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the European Commission have told us that corporate profits drive inflation but this Government does not want to know. The Government looks at corporations making record profits and gives them bigger tax breaks, all while ordinary people pick up the tab. The reality is that things are getting worse and people are under more pressure than ever. They are still being crucified by energy bills, food prices, insurance and childcare. The list goes on and on and people at home know it. The Government needs to show some humility and admit that it got this badly wrong. More importantly, it needs to wake up to reality and bring forward a cost-of-living package. Right now, the Government is just refusing to help. It is not just refusing to help; it is actively making things worse and harder on people. Instead of supporting people, it has made things worse. It is jacking up rents, increasing college fees, hiking taxes on family homes and increasing the cost of home heating oil, petrol and diesel. The list goes on. Any Government with a serious intent of protecting people from inflation has to do three things. The first is do no harm. It should not make things worse through Government action. Second, Government needs to do its job and tackle price gouging; reform electricity pricing; mandate large supermarkets that operate in Ireland to report their profits; take on the banks and insurance companies; support my legislation that would ensure transparency; cap rents; and stop vulture funds snapping up properties ahead of families. These are just some of the proposals we have put forward and we can give the Government many more. Third, the Government needs to put in place supports. That means bringing forward a cost-of-living package because people should be able to expect that in the face of a cost-of-living crisis, when the Government has the resources in the form of billions of their euro, the Government will step in and help. I will say it again: the Government should admit that it got it badly wrong and what it needs to urgently do is end the price gouging, get costs under control and, crucially, bring forward a cost-of-living package without delay.

Sentiment score: 0.01