Mark Wall: 'People Left Behind' Cost of Living Emergency
Mark Wall spoke in support of the Labour Party mini-budget, warning that workers, carers and older people are being left behind by current government policy. He called for an immediate mid-year package of targeted measures to ease energy, housing, childcare and food pressures before the October budget.
Mark Wall set out the human impact of the cost of living crisis, describing families who cannot afford heating, workers who end each week with nothing left, and carers whose work goes unrecognised. He said the recent protests reflected a wider breakdown in the social contract under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Wall detailed Labour's measures: index income tax bands and credits, targeted energy credits for households and small businesses, abolition of exam fees, cuts to school transport fees, and a 100 euro grocery payment on top of child benefit. He urged the government to introduce a mid-year support package rather than making people wait until October.
He emphasised the pressure on workers, the self-employed, small businesses forced to close, older people afraid to heat their homes, and carers who save the state billions but receive little recognition. Constituents from Kildare South, he said, are already living on the edge.
Wall framed the address as a response to the budget of 2026 and recent fuel supports, arguing that current measures do not meet people’s needs. He warned that without immediate action many households will not be able to recover before the autumn budget, and urged the government to act now.
What he said:
Mark Wall set out the human impact of the cost of living crisis, describing families who cannot afford heating, workers who end each week with nothing left, and carers whose work goes unrecognised. He said the recent protests reflected a wider breakdown in the social contract under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Main demands:
Wall detailed Labour's measures: index income tax bands and credits, targeted energy credits for households and small businesses, abolition of exam fees, cuts to school transport fees, and a 100 euro grocery payment on top of child benefit. He urged the government to introduce a mid-year support package rather than making people wait until October.
Who is affected:
He emphasised the pressure on workers, the self-employed, small businesses forced to close, older people afraid to heat their homes, and carers who save the state billions but receive little recognition. Constituents from Kildare South, he said, are already living on the edge.
Political context and consequences:
Wall framed the address as a response to the budget of 2026 and recent fuel supports, arguing that current measures do not meet people’s needs. He warned that without immediate action many households will not be able to recover before the autumn budget, and urged the government to act now.
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Transcript
First of all I want to thank my colleague Deputy Jed Nash for his considerable work on this motion tonight and bringing forward the Labour Party mini-budget as has been said. Minister, too many workers and self-employed who keep this country going day in day out have nothing left by the end of the week and struggle simply to put food on the table. The older people who built this republic are forced to choose between eating and eating while carers who work 24-7 and who save the state billions every year get little or no recognition of the extraordinary care that they provide. These are the people who government have left behind, not just in the budget of 2026 but also in the recent fuel supports as announced. Those protests weren't just about fuel costs. It was also about much more than that. It was about energy bills, it was about renting, house prices, childcare fees, education costs and more. Fundamentally, the social contract has been torn up by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Before a decent salary was enough to help you buy a home, now it's just enough to get you from bill to bill and Minister, that's what shocks me most about the attitude of this government. This government has no idea of the level of anger and frustration out there. The people that are coming to my office in Kildare South are barely surviving, yet these same working people would have been described as comfortable not so many years ago. Every single day of the week I have people telling me that they are under so much pressure. Young families and workers who earn too much to qualify for social housing but nowhere near enough to buy their own home. Small businesses stretched to their limit, some forced to close. Carers and older people afraid to turn their heating on simply because they can't afford the bill. It is clear that government has no plan to address the cost of living crisis impacting so many workers, self-employed people, carers and indeed older people. This is why people took to the streets, they are looking for a lifeline but government simply hasn't delivered for these workers. Our motion today brings forward a number of measures that will support the people that need the help the most. We need to put money back into the pockets of working people by indexing income tax bans and credits. We need targeted energy credits to help struggling workers and low income houses to keep the lights on and make their houses comfortable once again, those of course that are lucky enough to have a home. We need energy credits that will support small businesses who need help most at this time. We need to make free education actually mean free by abolishing exam fees and cutting school transport fees. We need to bring down the cost of the weekly shop for food for working families with a 100 euros grocery payment on top of the child benefit. Minister these are the real and practical measures that can immediately bring down the cost of living for so many people who are struggling in Ireland in this state right now. These are the measures that put the worker and carer of this country first for once where they deserve to be. I've listened to Minister after Minister say we cannot bring in a mid-yearly budget in advance of the formal budget in October. Minister it's simply time for this government to put working people, those that have worked so hard to shape this country and all those carers who saved this state billions first. For many of them it's raining heavy now and if they have to wait until October for help many will not be able to put their heads above the floods.