Cost of Living Issues
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Louise O'Reilly (SF), Dublin Fingal West

It would be quicker if the Minister just said, "No". Is he considering additional cost-of-living measures given that people are absolutely battered? I have read out the figures to him that show that a quarter of children are living in poverty and nearly a quarter of workers are living in poverty. If the Minister is not prepared to give the measures that will ensure that these people do not live in poverty then he should have just said, "No". I regret that the Minister does not have a better answer for me, to be brutally frank, because the cost of living in this State and the cost for people who are on low incomes, as we know, means they are very heavily exposed to any price increase, including any increase in the price of food, but the Government has refused to negotiate or rein in the large-scale supermarkets. Any increase in energy again is the same story. It is a case of saying to carry on lads and keep increasing the energy costs. All of the people who are on low incomes are very badly exposed to these. The very last one, and the one that is raised in this question, is housing. These people are right up against it. They need help and they need it now.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15