Cost of Living Issues
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I very respectfully make the point that we put in place an extraordinary level of support for people over the past four years. Thank God this country was in a position to do that. We did it at a time of very high inflation. Those measures always had to be temporary. It is always difficult to unwind such measures, but I am crystal clear that if we did not get back to a situation of being able to deliver one regular budget each year, the position would not be fiscally sustainable into the future. It also would not necessarily be a good use of public resources.
Deputy Murphy probably does not need an energy credit this year. I do not mean that personally to him, I mean people in the Oireachtas do not need an energy credit this year. There are people who need assistance with their energy bills this year. We are constantly trying to get that balance right. We did say we are going to move to permanent targeted measures at a time when wages are thankfully growing above prices for the first time in a while.
We did of course keep the Christmas bonus measure in place, which is a one-off double payment that is paid to all those on long-term social welfare payments, including pensioners. Objectively, the budget was a progressive one. The permanent measures introduced in budget 2026 benefited those on lower incomes above and beyond those on higher incomes.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18