Richard Boyd Barrett: Price Controls Now - Government Has Failed
Richard Boyd Barrett challenges the Tánaiste over soaring fuel and energy costs and demands immediate price controls. He argues the government has failed to protect households from a crushing cost-of-living crisis while handing out tax breaks to big business.
What he said
Richard Boyd Barrett addressed the Dail to criticise the government response to petrol, diesel, home-heating oil and green diesel price hikes. He said protesters were driven into the streets because their "backs were up to the wall" and called for the price controls his bill proposed.
Policy proposal
Boyd Barrett explained that price controls on petrol, diesel and heating fuels were the specific demand from people on the streets and mirrored legislation he has tabled. He warned that the concessions the government has offered are measly and can be wiped out virtually overnight without proper controls.
Political critique
He contrasted the refusal to implement price controls with government handouts to big business, citing R&D tax credits and substantial excise cuts to the aviation industry. Boyd Barrett framed this as a choice by the government to protect profits rather than ordinary households.
Why it matters
The speech warns of ongoing hardship in accommodation, energy and childcare costs if structural measures are not taken. Boyd Barrett urged immediate action to bring fuel and heating costs to affordable and predictable levels for families facing the cost-of-living crisis.
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Tánaiste, the protesters who were on the streets were there by their own explanation because their backs were up to the wall to the extent that they simply could not sustain the price hikes, the fuel price hikes that they were enduring and that's on top of a cost-of-living crisis that is absolutely crushing people in terms of the cost of accommodation, the energy price hikes, the cost of childcare and so on and it should be obvious to you that you have utterly failed to address that crisis. Now what the demands that were made by those around the streets which you are refusing to bow to were for price controls. That's what they asked for. In fact, price controls they asked for on petrol, on diesel, on home-heating oil, on green diesel were almost exactly what we put in a bill which we brought into this house two years ago and we brought in again a number of weeks ago almost word-for-word because they would actually bring down the cost of fuel, of green diesel, of home-heating oil to levels that are affordable and where there would be certainty because all of the measly concessions you've given which are totally inadequate can be wiped out virtually overnight, virtually overnight. So price controls is what is needed and I don't know why you set your face against it because when it comes to handouts as we saw on the budget to big business on R&D tax credits or for example a billion euro last year in excise cuts to the aviation industry to a few very very profitable airlines how can you give it to the big corporate sector but you won't give it to ordinary people who are being crushed with a cost-of-living crisis.
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