Mary Lou McDonald: Government Must Cut Costs and Listen Now
Mary Lou McDonald warns the government to cut costs and listen to people now after recent exclusions from talks. She calls on Micheál Martin, Simon Harris, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to engage respectfully and act to ease fuel and living pressures.
What she said
Mary Lou McDonald told the government the bottom line is simple: get costs down. She highlighted that fuel is unaffordable for many and that people's backs are to the walls, demanding immediate, concrete action rather than half measures.
On exclusion from talks
McDonald described yesterday's decision to exclude people from talks as absolute madness, calling it disrespectful and arrogant. She insisted that every voice must be heard and that the government should reverse the approach of shutting people out of the process.
A direct challenge to government leaders
She directly called on Micheál Martin, Simon Harris, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and the whole government to engage respectfully. McDonald framed this as a test of whether ministers will respond to the reality of pressures facing households.
Implications and consequences
McDonald warned that ignoring public pressure will not do. The speech frames a clear demand for a full government response to bring costs down now, with an insistence that partial measures will be insufficient.
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The bottom line is that government need to get costs down. Fuel is just too expensive and people's backs are to the walls. Yesterday the decision to exclude people from talks was absolute madness. It was disrespectful and arrogant too. What we need is people to be listened to now. Government needs to hear and then government needs to respond. So I'm calling directly on Michail Martin, Simon Harris, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and the whole government to now engage respectfully. Ensure that every voice is heard and then act. That's what's critical here. Act to bring costs down. No half measures, that won't do. We need a full, respectful response to the reality of the pressures that people are living under.
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