Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 14 May 2025

Let's dive into the discussions shaping the nation. On the watch of your government, households are hit with soaring costs right across the board. The price of the weekly shop is through the roof. In the last year, the price of a pound of butter has increased by a euro, two litres of milk is up by 27 cents, cheddar cheese up 79 cents, and since 2022, Taoiseach, the price of a bag of potatoes has doubled. The price of toothpaste and other basic toiletries is absolutely sky high at this stage. And then rent goes up and up. In the last year, rent went up by at least 100 euros a month. On average, people now fork out 2,000 euros a month. That's the nightmare that you've created for renters. Motor insurance is up a whopping 9% in just 12 months. That's more than double the EU average. And we have the highest electricity prices anywhere in Europe, 350 euros a year, dearer than other countries. People are working very hard, working all hours to make a better life for themselves and their families, but they're being hit from all sides. And they're contacting us literally at their wits' end. Here's some of the things that they've told us, Taoiseach. This is Amy. She says, the price gouging is unreal. The weekly shop for my family of five, two adults and three kids is now 260 euros. And our most recent electricity bill was 400 euros, 60 euros. David says, my car insurance just shot up by 200 euros. No crash, no claim, no change. Just a random slap in the face because the company feels like it. Fiona told us, nine bloody euro for a bottle of shampoo that used to cost 450. These price hikes are an absolute joke. And Susan said, it's getting impossible to keep the head above water. Everything except our income is going up and up and it's killing us. This is just a snapshot of the rip-off that people are experiencing day in, day out. By contrast Taoiseach, here's what you had to say on Thursday in Brussels. The Minister of Finance and Public Expenditure, myself and Datanis, that we've all ruled out a specific cost of living package in advance of the budget. This position was repeated by one of your Fianna Fáil colleagues on the radio yesterday. So, wow, hard-working people being fleeced left, right and centre. Many have very little left at the week, forced to decide which bill to pay, which one to leave, forced to cut back on the basics. And then a government proclaiming that it will not act. A government proclaiming that it will not help. It's not lost on anyone, Taoiseach, that at the same time you rule out help for ordinary people, you had no problem whatsoever delivering big pay hikes for your raft of junior and super junior ministers. Toh locht aibra na teire a lumma ag freisna ag fhraithna ag dolein airdja agus bili ag imacht ag smacht. Níil se a saith saith goil an rilta saith se siar ag dainef fwek. So you cannot leave working people and families, thai an draith aiseach. You must act. Bring forward cost of living supports to ease this enormous pressure on households. a board. No doubt. No doubt níil is a good thing all. Toh it, you must act. No doubt níil is a great thing to goil aoc. Hic cerat aica. Níil is mód deante e ganhwillta sa sa a dhuvod Cústas Maragthaëla agus an brúe a eich DW ag a leidu da cosfwynt dyn airdan, náain níil to salar fuddan horte. But it is not clear that I disagree fundamentally with the Deputy's presentation. No Government across Europe, across the 27 member states of the EU, has provided as much as this Government and the previous Government did in terms of cost of living supports. Quite exceptional contributions made, altogether from the other significant provision that we made within the mainstream elements of the Budget. Over £7.3 billion was made available in temporary expenditure, and £9.9 billion in recurring expenditure in supporting household incomes. We have been very, very conscious of the fact that at its peak inflation it reached a multi-decade high of cost of 10 per cent in Ireland. That was the position. That inflationary shock did have a significant impact on households and people, and indeed on SMEs as well. That significant fiscal support was provided by Government, both in terms of specific cost living measures that were temporary, but also in terms of taxation reductions in the last Budget that would take effect this year, and in terms of other measures like free book schemes, in terms of public transport supports, in terms of hot school meals, all of which has been of significant assistance. Budget 2025 provided for a £4 to £2.2 billion cost of living package, included an increased payment in respect to the rent tax credit for 2024 from £1,000 to £2,000, the extension of the 9 per cent reduced VAT rate for gas and electricity, the extension of the mortgage interest relief until the end of 2025, a double-month child benefit payment, two €125 electricity credits for households, two double-week payments for all long-term social welfare recipients, and $6.67 million for the increased cost of business schemes. And then we had the taxation measures that we took on the Budget, which will reduce income tax paid, and indeed various other universal charges as well. Consumer price inflation has eased back significantly from where it was over the past two years. The total average inflation of 1.3 per cent was recorded in 2024. That compares with 5.2 per cent in 2023 and 8.1 per cent in 2022. The latest data shows inflation at about 2 per cent in April, that's the target rate of inflation used by the European Central Bank. But notwithstanding the easing of the rate of inflation, the price level remains elevated, and we're very, very conscious of that. And our agenda and objective in the Budget when it comes in the autumn will be, again, to provide within the social protection payment programme, and in terms of taxation, to do what we can alleviate the pressures on people. We've had an exceptional period in 2022, 2022, we had an exceptional period during COVID, and the response has been exceptional by any yardstick, by any yardstick. And sustainability matters in terms of public finances, but sustainability also matters in terms of long-term sustainable programmes in social protection, in the tax code, and in terms of provision in public expenditure. Sustainability matters for families, so notwithstanding everything that you have lauded there in yourself, congratulatory soliloquy. Amy's groceries still cost 260 quid a week, and her electricity bill was 460 quid. A bottle of shampoo that used to be 450 is now 9 euros. Yes, inflation has tamed, but the cost of living crisis has not gone away. For the life of me, I cannot understand why you cannot accept people's experiences as bona fide. Renters, people struggling to pay their mortgages indeed, struggling with childcare costs, struggling to put bread on the table, to pay the electricity bill, and to keep the show on the road. Despite the fact that there is ample evidence that this is a widespread experience, Dijic, it is not simply those on social welfare payments. These are working families who are struggling, and yet you are telling them no. They cannot wait until October. We need cost of living supports, and we need them with urgency. Of course, Deputy, I know you dismiss people on social welfare, you just have. I have broadened, but to be fair to your party, you do move along the spectrum from time to time in terms of the political narrative, but the point is, of course, what I did say was across the board in terms of taxation measures, in terms of social protection code, and also in terms of very milestone, very significant breakthrough initiatives. Like every parent in this country, every child going to school has free books. If you had said that to me three or four years ago, you wouldn't have believed it yourself that we would do it, but we did it. We also have significantly expanded hot school meals. These are universal, long-lasting programmes that are now embedded in the public expenditure programme. We saw you in High Dungeon when we were doing the cost of living packages saying, these are once off, not good enough, et cetera, et cetera. What we're going to do in the next budget is, in terms of the public expenditure side of it, do everything we can to make sure that we can reduce pressures on families and on children in particular. Like, share, and subscribe, and let us know your thoughts in the comments. We'd love to hear from you.