Tá teaghlaigh ar fud an Stáit i lár ghéarchéim chostas maireachtála. Tá siad ag streachailt cheana féin agus ag tabhairt aghaidh anois ar chostais fhilleadh na scoile agus muid ag bogadh isteach sa samhradh. Anuraidh, chuaigh go leor teaghlach isteach i bhfiach leis na costais seo a íoc, agus i mbliana, beidh na costais seo ag brú go leor teaghlach thar an imeall. Tá tacaíocht de dhíth ar na teaghlaigh seo anois.

Throughout the State, families are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Many parents find themselves under serious financial pressure. Times are very tough for parents whose number one priority is their children. I have said before that the cost-of-living crisis is happening right here, right now. Workers and families cannot afford to wait any longer. There is a serious concern that, faced with a cost-of-living crisis, families will face real difficulty in meeting back-to-school costs. Many parents are viewing their child returning to school in August with a sense of dread. They are sensing that because of high costs at a time when they are already being put to the pins of their collars. Schoolbook lists began to arrive last week and this week in many households across the State. No parent should dread their child's return to school but that is what is happening in so many households.

My party's education spokesperson, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, spoke to a mother from Cork who faces back-to-school costs of €1,700. She is, in her own words, terrified as to how she can make ends meet. Last year, a back-to-school survey was carried out by the Irish League of Credit Unions, which found that parents were spending €1,500 per child returning to secondary school and €1,200 per child returning to primary school. One quarter of these families were going into debt to cover these costs. That means using their credit cards, taking out loans and even going to the local moneylender just to send their kids to school. This year, in a cost-of-living crisis where bills and prices have continued to spiral, many parents are stressed and really anxious. A child's education should be a cherished right, but for so many, the price of education is a cause of concern and anxiety. That is simply wrong.

This week, we heard from staff at Barnardos who described families buying their children pyjamas to wear in the daytime because it was the cheapest option. It was the only option they could afford. For a Republic that was meant to be established on the basis of cherishing all the children of the nation equally, this is the grim reality of Ireland today.

Last night, the Government voted against Sinn Féin's motion to introduce an emergency budget that would lift the pressures off families in the here and now, including measures to support them in meeting back-to-school costs. Given the Government's vote against Sinn Féin's motion last night, the Tánaiste's message to struggling workers and families is clear: the Government will not provide further support to them now or over the summer months. The message is simply clear that they are on their own during this time.

What will the Tánaiste say to that terrified mother in Cork who faces school costs of €1,700 and does not know how she will make ends meet? What will he say to her given the Government's stance that it will have no further interventions until budget time? What will he say to the tens of thousands of other mothers and fathers in exactly the same position, worried about how they will meet the costs of their children going back to education as the school bills roll in this week like they did last week?

At the outset, I acknowledge the fact that the cost of living in Ireland is rising very fast. Indeed, this is the case all around the world. Governments are doing their best to deal with that but there is only so much any government can do. Obviously, people have seen big increases in the cost of petrol and diesel, utility bills, grocery bills and other bills as well. Everyone is feeling the squeeze, of course, but some people, particularly those on the lowest incomes, those with large families and those in rural areas, are feeling the pinch of that all the tighter. Sometimes, they have to make very difficult decisions on what to spend money.

The Government has acted already. If the Deputy compares what we have done in Ireland relative to what has been done in similar countries, we have done just as much if not more. As the Deputy knows, we had a budget package that kicked in in January with an increase in the minimum wage, reductions in income tax and increases in pension and welfare payments, including targeted payments such as the living alone allowance and fuel allowance. We effectively had a mini-budget or emergency budget already, with €1.4 billion in measures since the budget, including reducing excise on petrol and diesel, reducing VAT on electricity and gas, the €200 discount on people's electricity bill and a further fuel allowance payment. That is just to give a few examples of what has being done since the budget.

Of course, other measures will take effect before the budget in the autumn. As the Deputy knows, the school clothing and footwear allowance will be available for those who are eligible for it. We increased the funding for that significantly in recent years. For those attending third level institutions, the increase in the SUSI grant will take effect alongside the fact more people will become eligible for it. Those measures were announced in the budget but they will actually take effect over the course of the summer in terms of people going back to school and college.

Obviously, facing a big bill can often be the toughest thing for people. People might be getting by week by week, but obviously, a big bill arriving can be a big difficulty for a family. They might be getting by week to week but that big bill, whether it is for car repairs or back-to-school costs, can hit people very hard. As I said, much has been done already with €2.4 billion for families to help them with the cost of living. There is more planned in the autumn in and around the budget. We want a set of actions that will take effect almost immediately in the days and weeks after budget day to help people through the winter in particular. A series of more regular moves will take effect then in January. That is the plan on which we are doing much work at the moment. As I said, the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance will become available over the course of the summer as well as the improvements in the SUSI grant for those attending third level institutions.

I do not think that will be any comfort to that mother from Cork or, indeed, all the other families who face a summer of dread. As the Tánaiste acknowledged, they are already dealing with petrol, diesel, home heating oil, energy, food and clothing costs skyrocketing and going in the wrong direction. Now, as kids finish up their school year, the bills are starting to roll in. It is €1,500 per child going to secondary school and €1,200 per child going to primary school. There are no additional interventions from Government.

The Tánaiste spoke about what the Government might do in the budget. These bills need to be met in the here and now. These school bills need to be dealt with. The kids are going back to school at the end of August. The Tánaiste, along with his Government colleagues, decided that he will make no further interventions over the next number of months for these families and tens of thousands of families like them who are struggling right here, right now. They do not know where they will get the money to pay for basic things like schoolbooks for their children or a school uniform to put on their kid's back come August. I plead to the Tánaiste on behalf of these individuals and many more like them that the Government needs to change tack and bring forward an emergency budget. It needs to reverse the decision it made and see that the cost-of-living crisis is happening right here, right now. The Tánaiste has an obligation and a moral responsibility to support these families at this time.

The cost-of living crisis is happening right here, right now. It will happen all the way through to the budget and continue after the budget. That is the truth of it. We are facing a global inflation crisis and it will not end because of any budget, whether that is an emergency budget before the autumn or one in autumn. This is something with which we will be grappling for months if not years ahead. It is caused by number of factors, of which the Deputy is very aware, that are very much internationally driven.

There is no doubt that if we bring forward an emergency budget a few weeks time or a regular budget in the autumn, the first thing the Deputy will say is that it is inadequate and within weeks or months he will be calling for another emergency budget. This is what we will see for the next year or two from Sinn Féin, and that is fine. However, the Government has acted already. We have acted since the budget and over the summer other measures will take effect, including pay increases for some people and in the public service, the back to school footwear allowance and the improvements in the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant for third level. Then we will have another package in autumn in the budget.