Coppinger says Government sitting on “rainy day” fund is “uncacceptable”

People Before Profit joined other Dáil parties in holding a think-in, and the group highlighted the areas of cost of living and the housing crisis as two major areas which they will focus on in the upcoming Dáil term.

TD Paul Murphy said “the housing and cost of living crisis is having an ever-greater impact on ordinary people across the country. While most are suffering, the profits of the energy companies and big retailers are soaring.”

“The government has some serious decisions that they have to make during the upcoming budget to fix the housing crisis and to give people real support from the cost of living crisis,” he said.

Murphy called for a reinstatement of the eviction ban, more investment in public and affordable housing, a 3% cap on mortgages, nationalisation of energy companies, and the cutting of the USC for people earning under €100,000.

Councillor Hazel de Nortúin has encouraged people to attend the cost of living demonstration on October 7th in an attempt to “show the government that they need to do much more to tackle the cost of living and housing crisis.”

“Homelessness has reached record levels in this country, rents are beyond unaffordable, people cannot afford house prices, and people are being hammered by mortgage interest rises. The government needs to tackle these issues in Budget 2024. People are currently being fleeced and are facing a long winter,” she said.

Party member and former TD Ruth Coppinger said “the carnage from the housing crisis is impacting every facet of life in Ireland: schools can’t get teachers, hospitals can’t get nurses, essential workers can’t afford to live, especially in cities. A social and care crisis is being created from the government’s insistence that profit comes before all else.”

“With a massive surplus and ‘rainy day’ fund, this refusal to invest in essential services like education, health and childcare is unforgivable. The €12 billion budget surplus could build 60,000 social and affordable homes and eliminate the housing crisis entirely,” she claimed.