Our thoughts are with the young ten-year-old girl in the care of Tusla who has been the subject of an assault. Our thoughts are also with the family of young Vadym Davydenko who was killed last week in Dublin. I am conscious that criminal proceedings are under way in respect of both incidents. I commend the Garda and wish it well with its investigations. I do not propose to say any more about either case at this point.

The Irish Times reports today that ordinary festive staples will cost 20% more this Christmas than they did last year. The cost of groceries is increasing at roughly three times the headline rate of price inflation, a shocking development for working families. This is having a severe impact on working families, who are hard-pressed and who got so little relief in the recent budget. These are families who have had the small support of one-off payments taken off them this year while their housing costs and fuel bills are going up and they are struggling to make ends meet. It is not just the Christmas turkey that will cost more this year. Rents are 7% higher now than they were a year ago. More than 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills - bills that continue to rise as temperatures drop. These factors are conspiring to force tens of thousands of families across the country to make impossible choices, like the choice between heating and eating.

The Government's Finance Bill will be debated this afternoon. It will give effect to the budget, a budget that we in Labour have characterised as being for burger barons and big builders. Due to the Government's failure to index tax bands in this budget, those earning €50,000 per year can expect to pay an additional €1,000 a year in tax. They will have nothing to show for that in terms of investment in basic infrastructure, public services, housing or public goods, and they are getting hammered at the tills. I heard from a woman in my own community yesterday. She has two master’s degrees and works at what could be described as a "good job", but she is renting and pays a whopping rent for her home. She cannot afford to cover her household or grocery bills. She told me it makes her feel ashamed.

That is the legacy of the Government’s budget and financial policies. People around the country are feeling ashamed because they cannot stay afloat financially due to lack of supports from the State. These are the people who are often referred to in a cliché as "the squeezed middle". What does the Taoiseach propose to do for hard-working families? He repeatedly answers my questions on the cost-of-living crisis by mentioning the terrible war in Ukraine, which, of course, is a factor, as well as geopolitical uncertainty and market forces, but corporate greed is also an issue. I ask that the Taoiseach take on my colleague, Deputy Ged Nash’s excessive prices Bill, which the Government supported on Second Stage. It would force supermarket giants to publish their profits and bring about price transparency, thereby driving down the price of a weekly shop. The Taoiseach could also direct the new Agri-Food Regulator to investigate why food prices are getting so high. These are constructive steps that we in Labour are proposing. Will the Taoiseach adopt these steps to cut the cost of living for families?

May I first of all say that I think the CSO should be the standard statistical body that we should adhere to for any analysis and comment, and pin those on it, because there are all sorts of groups coming forward every now and again with indeterminate statistics? There is no question but that inflation has been a very significant issue over the last number of years. In fact, it was close to 10% following the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It has eased considerably since then but, of course, prices are at that elevated level. Real wages are now increasing by about 3.5%, if we take out inflation. That said, food prices are a significant pressure on many families.

However, the Government has responded. We have put in permanent measures that have eased the cost of living for many families. The free schoolbooks scheme, for example, was a very significant measure that we took, and it is permanent. Free hot school meals are very significant. Some 26% of families now benefit from the fuel allowance, which is a very significant enhancement. We targeted supports to the child support payment. For those over 12 years of age, it went up by €16, and by €8 for those under 12. That helps many lower-income families but many middle-class households with children will also benefit. The working family payment threshold increased by €60 a week, which allows more families to qualify and get more support. There was an expansion of the back-to-school clothing and footwear payment to include younger children of two and three years old. Of course, we have the pension auto-enrolment scheme, which is a very significant scheme that will benefit well over 700,000 workers in time.

These are more permanent, sustainable measures that will improve working people's lives and quality of life into the future. We targeted our resources in this budget. We also extended the rent tax credit, which has been increased over recent years. We have extended the reduction in the VAT rate on electricity and kept it at 9% for the next number of years.

We will continue to do what we can in terms of supporting families. The budget is not as the Deputy has described. That is just a cheap headline grabber. The budget is very significant in terms of the public expenditure and the increases in services for disability, and for education in terms of capitation grants, with €50 for primary schools. These are very significant interventions. One has to make choices in the budget. I recall the Labour Party consistently criticising the Government's tax packages over the past five years and now when there is not a tax package on personal income, it turns around, reverses and criticises us for not including one.

Indexation.

We decided to invest in capital in terms of more roads, more schools, more public transport and better rail services. That is what we are doing right across the board. In terms of disability and child poverty measures, we have significantly enhanced the allocation to those respective areas.

With respect, of course we welcome sustainable measures that will cut costs for families and households. However, let us be clear. The Government's recent budget represented a drop in the ocean at best for families that are hard pressed and cannot make ends meet. It is not just the Labour Party; it is people around the country who are dismayed at the vast cost of the VAT cut that the Government chose to implement for hospitality and hairdressers at the expense of doing other things like indexing tax rates.

Let us return to the constructive solutions we in Labour are proposing. The Agri-Food Regulator is the regulator. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, has said it is the appropriate public body to investigate extortionate grocery prices. My colleague, Deputy Nash, asked the Minister for agriculture when he would instruct the regulator to launch an investigation. That was nearly two months ago. Enabling the authority to crack down on high prices would take nothing more than a statutory instrument from the Minister, but nothing has happened. Those are the kinds of constructive steps that the Government could be taking now to show households that are struggling that it is going to offer them something and is seeking to crackdown on rising grocery prices and tackling corporate greed. That is simply what we are looking for the Government to do.

Hear, hear.

We need to get prices down sustainably over the next number of years. That is the key target. Some of the Opposition's proposals would have added 2% to the inflation rate, which would have exacerbated the problem for many families out there. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, is forecasting that among the euro area, Ireland will have the third lowest inflation rate between 2025 and 2026 at 1.7%. We did not want to do anything. For example, if one wanted universal energy credits, one would bump up inflation and consistently exacerbate the problem. We cannot keep on doing once-off packages forever. I am sure the Deputy would acknowledge that.

What we wanted to do was to improve services, particularly in disability, which has a 20% increase in the allocation. That is important. We have an awful lot more to do there in terms of respite places, residential places and so on. It is the same in special education where we need more resources for more teachers, more special needs assistants and more classes for next September onwards. These are very important investments and allocations of resources. What the Deputy said about the hospitality this year is about €250 million. That would not index anything, and the Deputy knows that. Indexation would be well over a billion-----