Léiríonn an tuairisc a d'fhoilsigh Bonkers.ie inniu go mbeadh aon socair a chuirfear ar fáil sa bhuiséad slogtha suas ag arduithe praghsanna. Tá go leor daoine óga ag smaoineamh ar imeacht thar lear ar thóir saol agus todhchaí níos fearr. Is í an cheist mhór ná cad a dhéanfaidh an Rialtas sa bhuiséad chun an saol a dhéanamh níos inacmhainne?

We are now less than two weeks to budget day. The main thing on people's minds is the runaway cost of living, and the big question is what the Government will do to get costs under control and help households keep their heads above water. Prices keep going up, the bills keep coming in and people are really sick of being ripped off. This morning we hear that the pressure on workers and families is set to increase in the next few weeks. An analysis published by Bonkers.ie shows that households will have to pay out over €1,000 just to cover the list of price hikes that have already been announced. I refer to hikes in gas and electricity costs, health insurance, PRSI, mortgage repayments and streaming services. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, and Simon Harris therefore simply cannot come in here on 6 October and roll out yet another budget that fails to tackle the cost of living and leaves working people behind.

To be clear, the Government's failure to tackle the affordability crisis has real consequences. Yesterday, the National Youth Council of Ireland published a startling report. It revealed that seven in ten of our young people are considering leaving Ireland. The biggest factor driving this sentiment among our young people is their inability to live an affordable life here. That is a damning indictment of more than a decade of Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael partnership Governments - budget after budget, decision after decision, short-changing working people and short-changing our young people. Young people have had it with being left at the back of the queue because our young people are smart and they get it. They hear from the Government that the economy is strong and the surpluses are large, yet they cannot get their start. They know also that while they are losing out, people at the very top are benefiting. They need to know that things can be different, that this is where they belong, that this is their country, that this is their home and that things can be better. Life can be affordable in Ireland, and this has to start with the budget.

The Government is floating and leaking a lot, but last night, in real terms, it faced its first test. It had the chance to back a Sinn Féin proposal to cut the cost of home heating oil by removing carbon taxes but it blocked that proposal and it failed that first test. It chose instead to let 700,000 households keep taking the pain.

Does the Minister accept or even recognise that the Government's policies have left young people behind? Does he accept or even recognise that its decisions leave working people behind? Does he accept or even recognise that households simply cannot afford another Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael budget that delivers simply more of the same?

Hear, hear.

I completely reject the Deputy's constant failed state narrative, which Sinn Féin has been propagating for years now, from trying to break the State to then propagating a narrative that we have a failed State.

A failed Government.

I reject that in the hardest terms. We have a country of full employment-----

There are 17,000 people homeless.

-----with continued resilience of our economy, despite the multiple shocks of recent years, and a Government that is motivated to give young people hope when it comes to housing, when it comes to their future and in terms of their employment and their wages. That is our central motivation as part of budget 2027. It is to drive better affordability in our economy and, yes, to respond to the serious pressures that we recognise many families and households face when it comes to the cost of living.

That is why there will be a targeted income tax package prioritising low- and middle-income workers to reward work in our economy and give them a break. It is why we want to make significant interventions and further progress when it comes to housing and delivering greater housing supply across our economy because, yes, the challenges and the pressures faced by young people are concentrated in affordability of homes and of rent. That is why areas like the renter's tax credit are under further consideration by the Government. Third, it is about ensuring we build a country that continues the levels of employment we have and continues to attract jobs and grow our economy into the medium term. While Sinn Féin just attacks the Government two weeks out from the budget, we are preparing a sensible, responsible and affordable budget that we can sustain into the medium to long term. Sinn Féin makes commitments and promises that would break our economy and undermine the public finances. That is the challenge with Sinn Féin. It proposes higher taxes and massive increases in expenditure. That does not give young people the longer term hope or prospects to live and build a life here. Everything we are doing is to protect capital investment in housing and infrastructure, so we prioritise investment in transport infrastructure, reduce congestion and build the social infrastructure and the communities that are required right across the country.

Let me be absolutely clear: the central objective of this Government is to respond to that immediate pressure. That is why we will take further decisions when it comes to the pricing of energy in our economy on budget day. It is why we will respond to affordability challenges that young couples with children face when it comes to progress on childcare, for example. We want to ensure that the sentiment of young people is responded to in this budget with, again, improved housing supply and further progress in the delivery of social and affordable homes in 2027. That is the central motivation of the Government. Instead of just criticising, attacking and continuing with its negative dialogue day in, day out, Sinn Féin should come up with some suggestions or solutions for once-----

Please allow the Minister to answer.

-----that would actually build hope in our economy, because all young people hear from Sinn Féin is higher taxes on work. How will that work for young people? They hear higher taxes on businesses that employ young people. How would that work for young people? How does that give them a greater prospect of a job in the medium term? There is also a level of objectionism to housing supply, which would not help housing supply in our economy. How would that help young people who need homes and want to buy homes across communities in our country?

We will respond to the issues with the cost of living, but we also need to be mindful that we are living with multiple conflicts internationally, a significant level of uncertainty in terms of the geopolitical position with the conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. I think people understand that that is impacting pricing in our economy and that the Government can insulate to some extent but cannot insulate all elements of how pricing is changing. That is reflected not only in Ireland but also internationally. We will prioritise interventions to help people. That is the focus of the next few weeks.

There are absolutely solutions to all this. There is a constructive way forward. There is absolutely hope, especially for our phenomenal young people and for working families everywhere. Last night, we brought forward just one of those solutions, which could have had an immediate effect for 700,000 households, a solution to remove carbon taxes and make home heating oil in some way affordable for those families that were struggling. We will never apologise for shouting out for working people right across this land and for our young people, who have to be listened to, who have to be given hope and who have to see the solutions in concrete terms. That means a Government making the right choices. We need to choose working families, we need to choose our young people and we need to choose hope in the future and not to continue with the Government's track, which is to look after the better-off and the developers and not to upset the banks. That is what will give people hope, those concrete choices. Last night, the Government made its position clear. It chose not to intervene and not to support our solution.

We did not acquiesce with Sinn Féin's classic political opportunism, which they repeat here every week. They are all about shouting out and giving no solutions to anybody. The higher level of tax they would impose across our economy would break it and it would not be able to accommodate half of the spending demands they continually repeat here. We did not agree to the Bill because we have a budget in two weeks. We have a budget that will help working people and reward work but also address some of the cost pressures families face, specifically with home heating oil. We have been clear that is a specific consideration in our tax policy measures and will be considered, as well as further deferral of excise on petrol and diesel.

Your leader was not interrupted.

We will use our budget with the Tánaiste, specifically focusing on the energy issues families are facing. Sinn Féin is just seeking to bring that forward and score political points. That is not a solution or a constructive-type of opposition when we have a global conflict and significant international uncertainty. It is just populism, opportunism and a reckless imposition of taxes.

Thank you, Minister. I call Deputy Cian O'Callaghan.

It is the Sinn Féin approach. It does not work. It would break our economy, and it will give no hope to young people who want that certainty into the long term.

Thank you, Minister, time is up. I call Deputy O'Callaghan.

Says the party that broke our economy, the actual party that broke our economy.

Deputy O'Callaghan is on his feet.

Honest to God, the Deputy has got a brass neck.

Deputy, please.

Minister-----

Fianna Fail actually broke the economy.

Excuse me. The Deputy is on his feet. Can we have some courtesy please?

There is only party in here-----

Deputy Doherty, please.

-----that broke the economy, and it is over there on the other side of the Chamber.

No pointing fingers now, Pearse.

Please, look here, can we all exercise some decorum? This has to run efficiently. Deputy O'Callaghan is on his feet.