Last year, the Government responded to the cost-of-living crisis by announcing universal and targeted measures. Now that the economy and our public finances are in good order, the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform will meet party leaders, along with the Minister for Social Protection, to consider what measures will be announced for the spring period. A huge number of working families are still feeling the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis. I urge the Taoiseach to retain the universal measures and supports the Government put in place, whether these are the energy credits, excise on fuels, childcare, tax credits and so on. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, announced a very generous welfare package. I urge the Taoiseach to keep the universal measures in place.

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of the cost of living. We have seen inflation slow in the past few weeks. It is easing but there is a big difference between inflation slowing down and the cost of living going down. The cost of living is not going down but is still rising, which is hurting many families and people. We have not made any decisions yet. We will do so over the course of the next few days and sign off on them at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. The Deputy's point is well made that we need targeted measures for those who need the most help, in addition to universal measures, because there is not a family in Ireland that is not being impacted in some way by the high cost of living.