Maintain cost-of-living supports beyond end of month, says Barry

A CORK opposition TD has urged the Government to maintain all of the cost-of-living supports beyond the end of this month.

Addressing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Dáil on Wednesday, Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central, Mick Barry, said it is evident that many people are still struggling to make ends meet.

“Barnardos are telling us that last January [January 2022] one household in 25 was forced to go to a food bank, but by November that figure had risen to one in 10.

“The situation seems set to worsen. Kantar told us yesterday that the average household will spend an extra €1,200 nearly on groceries in 2023.

“Why, then, is your government considering the scrapping of at least some of the cost-of-living supports for householders at the end of this month?

“The crisis remains, the supports should remain, too,” Mr Barry said.

“The Government and the State has a surplus of €5bn. There shouldn’t be a single one of these supports cut in that situation and I think that any and all of these cuts should be opposed and resisted,” he said.

In addition to a budget of €6.9bn for 2023, a cost-of-living package worth €4.1bn of once-off measures was announced to help people pay rising bills.

A number of measures introduced as part of this package are due to expire at the end of February, including the reduced VAT rate for gas and excise reductions in the case of diesel and petrol.

The Taoiseach acknowledged that many people are struggling with the cost of living.

Mr Varadkar said that in the coming weeks the Government will consider “which supports can continue into March and into April and which ones can’t”.

“We do have to balance the books, we do have to have regard to other demands on the public purse as well, but one thing I will say is we will bear in mind those who need the help most and make sure that whatever package we put together is targeted,” Mr Varadkar said.