Last week, people hoped the Government would finally respond to the unbearable cost of living with measures that would make a difference. This did not happen because the Government simply does not get it. Tá an pacáiste costais mhaireachtála a d’fhógair an Taoiseach an tseachtain seo caite i bhfad ró-bheag, i bhfad ró-dhéanach. Is ar éigean go bhféadfadh sé difríocht a dhéanamh.

At the weekend, I asked people to share their cost of living stories with me. In a matter of hours, I received almost 1,000 replies. These are stories of extortionate rent, of cold homes, of struggling to put food on the table and fuel in the car, and of unaffordable insurance and childcare. These are stories of hardship and worry, which are pushing families to the edge. I will share some of these stories with the Taoiseach. Kieran wrote to me stating:

We have respectable jobs. [but] Our apartment is an ice box- we have to choose between food and my daughter's medicine or heat. Our daughter...wear[s] 2 pairs of PJ's [pyjamas] during the day and 2 at night while covered in 2 [or] 3 blankets to keep warm. We can't afford childcare so my parents babysit. It's impossible to get on the housing market. I feel guilty every night.

Barbara said:

We have nothing left. I can't buy the same amount of food I used to buy. I buy the cheapest meat. I just hope that nothing breaks down like my car or...[my] washing machine.

Amy told me:

We work full time. We're struggling to put oil in our tank and diesel in [the] car. [We] pay insurance that is colossal, feed ourselves and keep things going. There’s only ... two of us [but] I can't imagine what it would cost if we had kids.

Janice told us:

€950 in rent for [a] one bedroom ... spending €40-50 a week [on] petrol. €2000 [on] insurance. Bills haven't arrived yet for 2022 but I'm really scared.

Robert told me:

I'm getting electricity bills at 240-260 euro and rent of €1,100 for a damp 1-bed apartment. Something needs to be done.

Eamonn said:

After paying utility bills, it is then a toss-up between food and rent. I had to request ... help from the ...Vincent De Paul to get some food. I'm feeling so lost.

Caoimhe says:

I’m a 26-year-old teacher. This year I have found it so tough...[just] to keep myself afloat. My cost of living is nearly one whole pay check. My question to ... government is when will it change? I’m working to survive not [to] live.

Finally, Anna said:

My ESB bill was near[ly] €400. The Government credit isn't worth the paper it's printed on. What about the cost of my petrol? My rent? This government has left me behind.

These stories are just a glimpse of what people face. The package announced last week offered only the bare minimum and it will not make a dent for people. It is very clear that the Government needs to do much more but yesterday, the Taoiseach said there would not be any further interventions until the next budget. He shows no urgency but instead dithers and delays. The Taoiseach cannot seriously suggest that those who are struggling to pay their bills today must wait until October when the Government might possibly intervene. The house is on fire now. Workers and families cannot wait seven months for a fire brigade that might never come.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is a very serious one for many people throughout the country.

We know that inflation has risen very significantly globally. The origins of this are fundamentally global both in terms of oil and gas prices which have risen dramatically across the world - the Deputy will have to acknowledge that - and the unevenness between the supply of products and the demand that rose dramatically as a result of societies and economies reopening and emerging from Covid-19. This is true all across Europe. Ireland has not escaped that global phenomenon of inflation.

In the budget we allocated over €1 billion between tax and social protection measures to help to cushion people in respect of increases in terms of the cost of living, including a €5 increase in the weekly welfare rates; a €5 per week increase in the fuel allowance; a €3 per week increase in the living alone allowance; a €630 million package of income tax and USC reductions and parents' benefits increasing from five to seven weeks from July. In addition to that, the measure we announced last week was for over €500 million, which will result in cutting electricity bills by €200. In regard to the fuel allowance, there is an additional lump sum payment of €125 and the threshold for the drug payment scheme is being reduced from €100 to €80. The Deputy mentioned that Kieran was worried about the cost of medicines and so on. That measure was deliberately targeted at families with significant medical bills. We have reduced that significantly over the past while. There is also a front-loading of the working family payment; a 20% reduction in public transport costs and fares, which will affect and help about 800,000 people who use public transport to get to work and so forth and a reduction in caps for school transport fees for the next academic year.

The Deputy is saying that is too little. Hence, I have to say what she seems to be proposing would be inflationary. The measures the Deputy is advocating would make things worse. On housing, in the budget we have allocated very substantial funds for house construction. We accept that we need to build far more homes and far more apartments than we currently are building. The good news is that throughout 2021 there were 30,000 commencements, the highest since 2008. I would again appeal to Deputies to allow projects to get off the ground. Supply is essential to deal with the housing crisis. Supply is essential to get rents stabilised and reduced. If we do not get up to 33,000 per annum built over the next year number of years, rents will not stabilise and will not come down. People who are objecting left, right and centre to housing developments are not going to help renters. They are not going to help people who are paying too high a rent at this time.

On childcare, the Government is committed to the sector. In the most recent budget, we put a significant allocation of funding towards childcare, to improve the pay and conditions for people working in the childcare sector and to create career pathways. Housing and childcare are two big cost items. We want to go further in the next budget in terms of access and affordability around childcare and we are going to do that. We must also acknowledge that this economy has rebounded very significantly because of good and sound economic management. I am not sure the Deputy acknowledges that. We are near to being back to full employment much earlier than anticipated. Ireland is one of the fastest growing economies across the European Union, with many people securing jobs much earlier after we emerged from the pandemic than would originally have been anticipated. That should be acknowledged as well.

The Government supports in terms of supporting wages, supporting businesses to keep people employed and the pandemic unemployment payment represent unprecedented intervention by Government in the economy over the past two years.

I shared stories with the Taoiseach, real lived experiences in the here and now. People are making choices between heat and food. People feel lost and frightened. It is not an exaggeration to say that families are staring into the abyss. That is the truth. You cannot spin the truth of people's lives. The Government has not cushioned these people or their families. The budget did not do it and the package announced last week did not do it. They are the facts. I hope the Taoiseach will show a willingness to listen to that reality.

What I am asking for and what these families need are initiatives that take costs down. I have shared with the Taoiseach the fact that many people are shelling out huge sums of money to live in small and damp accommodation - kips, quite frankly, if I can use that term. I have asked the Taoiseach time and again to intervene to bring the cost of rent and childcare down. We have also asked him to ditch the notion of a carbon tax hike in May. He refuses to do those things. He cannot spin the truth of people's lives. People cannot wait until October for relief and real help. I am asking the Taoiseach again to hear these stories, respond and act now, not to drive inflation but to take costs down.

We all know people are suffering the brunt of the current inflationary cycle. Everybody knows that.

The Taoiseach should do something about it.

Inflation has gone up dramatically all over the world. The difference between the Deputy's party and the Government is that we are doing something concrete and substantial about it.

The Government is making it worse.

We are not just sounding off about it. The Deputy has put forward very little of substance to deal with this current inflationary cycle.

The Taoiseach should give himself a rise.

As far as the Deputy is concerned, we should throw another €2 billion or €3 billion at the problem. That would be very inflationary. The Deputy disagrees with the basic premise that underpins the economic model in this country. That model has resulted in a significant recovery from the Covid-19 situation. It is challenging right now because of this inflationary cycle. We want to work with people, trade unions and employers to navigate our way through this pandemic-generated inflationary cycle and to do it in an intelligent way that protects people's basic cost of living and jobs. Above all, we want to allow investment to continue in this country to allow more houses to be built. The most effective thing people and Oireachtas Members can do is to stop objecting to housing developments.