Mary Lou McDonald: Home carers need immediate relief
Mary Lou McDonald warns that rising diesel and petrol prices are placing unbearable pressure on families and home carers. Speaking publicly, the Sinn Féin leader urged the government - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - to intervene now to provide relief.
Pressure on carers
Mary Lou McDonald highlights the acute strain on home carers who travel from house to house, noting that recent fuel price rises are hitting families and workers hard. She emphasises that home carers provide an essential service across communities and are among those most affected by the cost increases.
Demand for government action
McDonald says the government must act and that intervention should have happened already. She sets out Sinn Féin's position that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are under pressure to deliver targeted relief for carers and other households struggling with fuel costs.
Political stakes
The leader frames the issue as both a social and political test for the current government. McDonald urges sustained public pressure so that home carers receive the support they need without further delay.
What comes next
Sinn Féin continues to press for concrete measures to ease costs for carers and families. The speech calls on communities to keep the pressure up to force decisive action from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
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So over the last number of weeks, as the price of diesel and petrol has gone up and up again, we've been so conscious of the pressure that families and workers are under, and none more so than home carers. People who provide an essential service to so many right across our communities, people who have to get from house to house, home to home. I know the pressure on you is very, very real, and you are one of the groups of people that we have in mind, and that we have fought this fight for. The government have to intervene. They should have done so by now, but we now have them under real pressure. So if you're a carer, a home carer, if you are anybody really across our communities, please keep the pressure up. You deserve, you need relief. You need this government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, to finally intervene.
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