Families making ‘impossible choice’ between heating and eating, Dáil told

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

It is “shocking” that the cost of groceries is increasing at roughly three times the headline rate of price inflation, the Dáil has heard.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said hard-pressed families who got “so little relief” in the recent Budget are “struggling to make ends meet” amid grocery bills, housing costs, and rising fuel bills.

She told the Dáil during Leaders’ Questions: “It’s not just the Christmas turkey that will cost more this year.

“Rents are 7 per cent higher now than they were a year ago.

“More than 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills, bills that continue to rise as temperatures drop, and these factors are conspiring together to force tens of thousands families across the country to make impossible choices like the choice between heating and eating.”

Ms Bacik was speaking in the Dáil about media coverage of consumer data from Worldpanel by Numerator.

In his response on behalf of the Government, Taoiseach Micheal Martin first warned that the Central Statistics Office is the body that should be referenced for any analysis on inflation or consumer prices.

However, he said: “But there’s no question that inflation has been a very significant issue over the last number of years.”

He added: “Food prices are a significant pressure on many, many families.

“But the Government has responded to it, and we’ve put in permanent measures that have eased the cost of living of many families, free school books, for example.”

Mr Martin also said there had been “more permanent, sustainable measures” that will improve “working people’s lives” into the future.