Carol Nolan warns of mortgage, childcare and rural cost crisis
Carol Nolan spoke about rising household costs, focusing on high mortgage rates, childcare expenses, and pressures on rural families. She urged the government to act to reduce mortgage rates, reform childcare, and support low-income households and pensioners.
Mortgage rates and household costs
The deputy highlighted that the Irish mortgage interest rate of 2.79% is more than twice the EU average of 1.31%, costing households over €2,000 a year. She warned this extra cost can be the making or breaking of families and said there has been no action from government to bring rates down.
Childcare costs and workforce impact
She noted that Ireland has the second-highest OECD household spend on childcare, with couples spending an average of 24% of income and single parents spending 29% of their wages on childcare. She said this level of cost can push women out of the workforce and called for reform to ensure proper childcare, value for money, and supports for service providers.
Rural pressures and carbon tax
The deputy emphasised huge financial burdens on low-income families, elderly people, and rural farming families, citing rising fertiliser costs and what she described as a very unfair and unjustifiable carbon tax imposed on people.
Rising demand for social supports
She referred to the Society of St Vincent de Paul’s warning that calls for help this year will be at the highest level in its history and could reach 200,000 by the end of the year, calling that prospect deeply alarming.
Call on government
Carol Nolan urged the government to stand up for low-income families, working families and pensioners, reiterating that action is required to tackle mortgage rates, childcare costs and other financial pressures.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I would just like to begin by saying that there are huge financial burdens on people in this country, particularly low-income families, elderly people, and I am very, very mindful of the struggles that many rural farming families face also in terms of rising costs of fertiliser and in terms of a very unfair and unjustifiable carbon tax that was imposed on people, and I do want to make those points. I note in particular that this motion highlights the fact that the Irish mortgage interest rate of 2.79% is more than twice the EU average of 1.31%, costing households over €2,000 a year, and in many cases that can be the making or breaking of families, in this case it is the breaking of families, because they are obviously being charged a lot more than the EU average. That is something that this government must tackle. There is no excuse for that. No action to date from government to bring this down, and it has to happen. The second issue that I want to highlight, which the motion mentions, is that Ireland has the second-highest OECD household spend on childcare costs, with couples spending an average of 24% of income, and single parents spending 29% of their wages on childcare costs. And this very factor can be a factor that pushes women out of the workforce in this country. It needs to be addressed. Obviously we need reform of the childcare sector and the services and how it operates. But we need to ensure that families receive proper childcare, value for money, and that the service providers also are in receipt of proper interventions to allow them to continue in their businesses. I am very concerned over the fact that the Society of St Vincent de Paul have said that their calls for help this year will be at the highest level in its history, and that they could actually reach 200,000 by the end of this year. That is deeply alarming, and it is something that we must address collectively. But I do call on government to stand up for people, low-income families, working families, who are being treated appallingly in this country, as well as our pensioners. Thanks,ode. That's pela 터수를 forπεwat これment. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I will continue to do this. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
