Action needed on cost of living crisis, says opposition

Opposition TDs have said that not enough is being done to combat the cost of living crisis, which has been exacerbated by the war in Iran.

This week, the government denied opposition requests to hold a mini-budget to combat the ever-worsening crisis.

The Dáil debate came in the wake of Ireland claiming another unwanted title; it now has the most expensive consumer electricity prices in Europe.

Statistics from the EU’s statistical agency showed that electricity prices in Ireland are 40% above the EU average.

The opposition argued that the government set a precedent by announcing  €500 million in tax cuts for hauliers and farmers in a bid to end the fuel protests, and that if money could be found in that situation, the money is there for other sectors of Irish society.

A motion put forward by Labour’s finance spokesperson Ged Nash saw a chance for Northside members of the opposition to put their case to the government.

Marie Sherlock, TD for Dublin Central, said that the cost of living crisis is a major issue on the doors ahead of the May 22 by-election.

Sherlock said there is a “level of bitterness” on the doors, with a widespread belief that the last three Budgets saw energy tax credits, and as soon as the government were no longer in electioneering mode, they cut the energy tax credits.

She said that people “felt bought” by the government, and now that the cost of living crisis is the worst that it’s ever been, there is no help in sight from the government.

“For three winters, there were energy tax credits worth €2.7 billion, and then when household arrears topped €500,000 last winter, there was no support.”

“I am talking to women in flat complexes who are putting in €50 every two days into prepaid meters. They cannot afford to continue,” she told the Dáil.

She said that the government are trotting out “excuses” about why they can’t create a mini-budget for “mechanics, office administrators, bus drivers and social care workers.”

She remarked, “there is some sort of post-colonial feigned helplessness in the way this government responds; there is always someone else to blame.”

April’s Spring Economic Forecast saw that Ireland could have a budget surplus anywhere in the range of €5.1 billion at the low end to as much as  €9.2 billion at the high end.

“The government has to control the controllable by using the might of our public finances to permanently reduce the cost of living and cut people’s bills by retrofitting homes while also reducing emissions,” she said.

“We need ambition from this government, and we are not seeing that. We have to use the resources we currently have, and that may not be there forever, to ensure we resolve the cost of living crisis.”

Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly called the cost of living crisis “unprecedented.”

The Dublin Fingal West TD welcomed Labour tabling the motion and putting pressure on the government, saying “we have been calling for this for some time, and it is welcome to see other parties coming to the table to echo the call and the need for emergency measures.”

O’Reilly laid out a number of statistics for the government ministers present, or in her words, their “greatest hits.”

“Inflation is now double what it was when the Government wrote its budget last year. Some 320,000 people are in arrears on their electricity bills. One in four cannot pay their gas,” she stated.

Last November’s vote, which saw Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens vote to increase rents for council tenants has become a major issue in the by-election, and something that Sinn Féin are keen to remind Labour of on every occasion.

“I urge Labour to reflect on its own vote to jack up the rent for Dublin City Council tenants in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis while they are dealing with some of the worst conditions people have to live in in this state.”

“The Lord Mayor turned to the left when he got on the plane (to California), unfortunately, he does not turn to the left any other time,” she quipped.

“There is a lesson in that for Labour and the others that supported the call to jack up rents in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. I am not asking for any ambition because Jesus knows we are sick asking for that and there is none. The very least the government could do is simply not make things worse. 

O’Reilly listed Sinn Féin’s list of fixes for the situation.

She said that USC needs to be cut, excise duty on fuels needs to be cut, a €500 cost-of-disability emergency payment needs to be introduced, a €400 social welfare payment should be updated to include pensioners, and the fuel should be extended by a further eight weeks. 

Social Democrats TD and finance spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan used his Dáil speaking time to pay homage to Northside Home Care workers.

He said “this is a group of low-paid workers, earning just above the minimum wage, who do incredibly important care work. As the government has failed to intervene and make sure they get paid the going rate the same as HSE care workers and failed to ensure there is a sectoral pay agreement for care workers, they are a group that is particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged during this cost-of-living crisis.”

He called on the government to back the workers, and “sort them out” in terms of pay.

He said that every care worker should get paid the “same, fair going HSE rate.”

The Dublin Bay North TD rhetorically asked, “what sort of government cuts the income of disabled people by €1,400? That is what the government did in this year’s budget.”

“To put that in context, this country has €39 billion sitting in cash yet it decided to take €1,400 off disabled people, putting people further into poverty.”

“It means that, for example, people who were in receipt of some of those supports who were getting dialysis at home can no longer afford the electricity bills for their dialysis and are having to go back to hospital to get dialysis every day, causing massive disruption and having a huge impact on their health and well-being. What sort of government does that?”

“How can its members justify that to themselves? How can they make those decisions? How, when it has the resources available to invest in targeted energy credits to lift people out of fuel poverty and invest in solar energy, does it continue to sit on its hands and not act or use the resources at its disposal to really help the people who need help the most?”

Fellow Dublin Bay North TD Barry Heneghan waded into the debate, remarking, “two weeks ago, the opposition was asking to collapse the government, where no financial measures could be passed, and now it is asking for a mini-budget.”

“We are in very unpredictable times and need to have a stable government. How could any financial measures have been passed if the government had collapsed as the opposition wanted?,” he questioned.

The independent TD asserted, “if there was a general election in three or four weeks, due to the count and the formation of government , there would be a long period when nothing could be passed. Is this performative? I want to show solutions.”

From the government benches, Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer deployed a favourite catchphrase, the proverbial “magic money.”

The Cork junior minister said, “we acted to insulate households and businesses from the worst impacts of rising costs. That is why we have two packages with a cumulative cost of €750 million; it is the second-highest or the highest package in Europe.”

“That budget surplus was not conjured up out of magic money. This package supports the most vulnerable through lower costs at the pump and supports key sectors of our economy,” he said.

“The government has been careful in its deliberation and calibration of the response. This is not a letter to Santa. We cannot write, “Dear Santa” and the wish list will be got. As we all know, someone pays the bill for Santa at the end of the day,” he remarked.

Buttimer said, “if we are genuinely sincere in the way in which we continue to budget and continue to manage our economy, we must have sustainability and we must be wise and prudent. I certainly do not want to go back to 2007 or 2010.”