Having got warmed up, does Deputy Doherty want to contribute under Standing Order 38?

Tá brú ollmhór ar theaghlaigh de bharr praghsanna atá ag ardú. Ní chreideann daoine a gcluasa nuair a deir an Rialtas nach ndéanfaidh sé a dhath le tacú leo. Ní féidir leo a thuilleadh de na praghsanna seo a fhulaingt. Caithfidh an Rialtas pacáiste tacaíochta a thabhairt chun cinn láithreach a thabharfaidh faoiseamh d'oibrithe agus do theaghlaigh.

Soaring prices - that is what everybody is talking about out there. In the last couple of weeks, we put out a cost-of-living survey online. Thousands of people replied to that survey and the results mirrored what we hear every day. The price of everything is going through the roof and people are finding it harder and harder to keep their heads above water. Almost 70% of respondents to our survey say they were just managing to get by. People are sick of seeing their hard-earned money swallowed up by out-of-control prices and are fed up with barely keeping up. They are hit from all angles, whether extortionate rents, massive energy bills, the high cost of petrol and diesel or unaffordable childcare. The one thing that is putting households under most pressure at this time is the cost of food. Some 91% of respondents told us they were struggling with runaway grocery prices.

As part of the survey, we asked them to tell us their stories. I want to share a few of them today. Jackie wrote:

My weekly food shop bill has doubled. 4 years ago I wasn’t worried about the summer holidays. But kids will want days out and treats. Just like ice cream. I can’t afford that. I haven't brought myself new clothes in 3 years. I don[']t sleep well with worry.

Paul says:

When we go grocery shopping we tend to buy the cheapest brands and try to get our meat and poultry at a discounted price in the sell by date fridge. We worry that we’re not eating properly. We're afraid to turn on the heating when it’s needed [because] our bill goes through the roof. We’ve a 7 year old son. It hurts telling him that we can’t afford to buy him nice things.

Lorraine told us:

As two university graduates with 4 children, we struggle every week. Only one parent can work full time as childcare is too expensive. We are trying to manage 6 people on 1 salary. Our grocery bill has skyrocketed. We try to save on our electricity bill but this is also way higher than it was 4 years ago. Our health insurance puts us into debt but we have to pay it because one of us has a life threatening medical condition. It’s infuriating. My teenagers are going to college soon. I have no idea how we will pay for that.

Thousands of people filled in this online survey. That is a snapshot of what they are feeling about out-of-control prices and what they are doing to people. It is a nightmare for folks out there and they cannot believe their ears when they hear the Tánaiste or Taoiseach, or their partners in government, stand up and say they will not do anything for them and will not bring forward a cost-of-living package in this year's budget. The State has never been better off but the hard-working people who made that happen have been left high and dry. How is that fair?

The Tánaiste says - and I am sure he will say it again - that the Government is aware of what people are going through, but then he does nothing. He rules out a cost-of-living package. He cannot keep patting himself on the back for the things the Government did last year or the year before. People are under pressure right here, right now. That is Paul's experience, Jackie's experience and countless experiences across this State. They need help now. I am pleading with the Tánaiste to change his mind. I ask the Government to do its job and bring forward a package of supports that will provide relief for these households. It needs to bring a cost-of-living package forward without delay.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I want to acknowledge at the outset, because it is true, that people in this country are still finding the cost of living a very significant issue. I know that, the Deputy knows that and there is not a TD in Dáil Éireann who is not aware of that in their own community and from their own constituency work. I want to be clear the Government is taking action in the here and now in a variety of areas. It is not a question of the Government saying people have to wait until the budget for supports. The Government is taking action this month that will have an effect on people in a range of areas.

I will give a few examples. This month 114,000 carers will receive the highest carer's support grant ever, and rightly so. Next month, we will see income levels for the carer's allowance increase so many more people will qualify for financial support. Over the summer months, the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance will be paid out. In September, there will be a significant increase in the number of people who qualify for the fuel allowance, allowing more people who are worried about heating bills, particularly in the run-up to winter, to qualify for that allowance for the first time ever. This month and again later this year, public sector pay will increase, including for the lowest paid workers in the public service, benefitting around 300,000 people. Anybody with a child starting secondary school in September will see the free schoolbooks scheme that has been a real success at primary school extend to secondary school. The Deputy talked about the cost of food. He will see for the first time the roll-out of the summer version of the hot school meals, what we are calling a summer meals programme. Women going into the pharmacy to access HRT see that it has been made free in the last number of weeks. Student grant payments will increase from September and childcare costs have fallen this year.

When the Government came into office, we decided to extend the reduced VAT rate on gas and electricity for exactly the reasons the Deputy mentioned, which is that if we had not done so, we would have had the VAT rate at 13.5%. We thought that was wrong so we took the decision to make that 9%. In recent weeks, we brought about a reduction in the levy, which is called the renewable electricity public service obligation. That will give people an approximately 40% reduction in the levy and save them a few bob on their electricity bills.

The Government is taking action on the cost of living and I do not think it is right or proper to get into a branding exercise about whether there will be a cost-of-living "package". There will be measures to help people in the budget with the cost of living, absolutely. Read our programme for Government and read what we want to do on childcare and for small businesses. Read what we intend to do for carers and how we intend to support farmers. Expect to see progress in this budget and the next number of budgets as we seek to fulfil that.

I push back very strongly against the narrative that anyone in government is saying we should sit back and wait many months. I have given more than ten examples of where we are already helping people with the cost of living. We want to build on that.

We can all say inflation is falling and that is true. We have been through a big inflationary crisis, probably the biggest since the 1970s, but I accept there is a significant time lag in many areas between inflation falling and citizens seeing any benefit in their bills.

The Deputy referenced groceries. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to expand the powers of the CCPC. That should happen. We have seen recent examples of it taking action to protect consumers. We need to see how we can strengthen its powers further.

The Tánaiste says inflation is falling and it will take a while for people to feel the effects, but he knows the phrase "inflation is falling" means prices are still going up. It just means they are not going up as fast as they were in the past. It means the prices people have seen go up in recent years are higher today. That is the real lived experience of Jackie, Paul, Lorraine and thousands of people across the State. The Tánaiste can pat himself on the back as much as he wants for what he has done but people's lived experience is that not enough is being done. The Government has ruled out a cost-of-living package in this year's budget. It is the wrong approach.

The Government has done other things the Tánaiste did not mention. For example, it passed legislation last night meaning every person in this State will pay more local property tax. Earlier this year, it put up the price of petrol and diesel. Also earlier this year, it put up the price of gas and heating oil to keep people's homes warm.

Just in the last weeks, the Government has ensured that rents will go up for new renters right across the State, including students that the Government talked about in terms of student supports. That is also the lived experience of people.

Let us get down to basics. Costs are going through the roof. People are struggling with their weekly shopping. A Minister of State said he was going to stop this. He was going to tackle this. He said he was going to call in the supermarkets two years ago. He was going to lay down the law and everything was going to change within six weeks. Prices are through the roof. This Government is impotent in the face of that. People are struggling. I am asking the Government again for a cost-of-living package that will support families and workers right throughout this State in the middle of this cost-of-living crisis. It is what is needed. It needs to be brought forward without delay.

Hear, hear.

The Deputy is accusing me of saying things that I never said. Nobody suggested here that anyone is patting themselves on the back. What I did for the people watching at home was push back against the Deputy's misinformation and disinformation that the Government is not taking action on the cost of living. People know the record of this Government in helping them through the past number of years. They know how many measures we took. However, I am also making the point because I do not want fear and anxiety to be sewed in people that this Government is taking help today. We are putting measures in place to help today. Look at what we are doing relating to the carer's support grant. Look at what we are doing to make sure more people can qualify next month for the carer's allowance. Look at what we are doing to make sure more people qualify for the fuel allowance in September. Look at what we are doing to increase student grants from September. Look at what we are doing in terms of increasing public sector pay. Look at what we are doing in relation to free secondary school books. Look at what we are doing relating to free hormone replacement therapy, HRT. We will continue to do this. Does the Deputy know what else we will do? We will keep the economy safe because we are in a turbulent time as well. The Deputy comes in here and says to abolish the carbon levy, get rid of the property tax, get rid of this and then spend a load more too. People saw through that in the election.

No more so than you.

That is why they voted to put a centrist Government back in office.

Hear, hear.