Ivana Bacik: Demand for a Coherent Mini-Budget to Help Families

Deputy Evanna Batshuk This time last year, households were already labouring under the pressure of grocery price inflation, the housing crisis and Trump's threatened tariffs. Since the outset of Trump's illegal war on Iran and in the Middle East, and with no end in sight to Russia's bombardment of Ukraine, things have got worse. And you've rightly just described the situation we're in as a massive global energy shock. But in this shock, struggling households are left wondering when they will get some real reprieve from your government. PAYE workers are not seeing the benefit of a multi-million euro sectoral support package. Taoiseach, in response to my Labour colleague Jed Nash's question last week, the Tánaiste ruled out a mini-budget for our communities. Today, we're told that officials are scrambling to design one-off supports, retrofit grants, energy tweaks, all signs pointing to a sort of mini-budget. As the saying goes, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it might just be a duck. But in this case, a very lame duck, Taoiseach. Very lame, because what we're seeing is not a coherent plan. You talk about a strategic response. Where is the strategy in the series of ad hoc measures you're formulating? They appear to be cobbled together in response to political pressure. To borrow another animal metaphor, you're playing whack-a-mole. You've no clear vision for how to support working families through this deepening cost-of-living and energy crisis. Would it not be more honest to call your response what it is, a mini-budget but released in segments? Call it what it is, let people then judge it on its merits. Families are already stretched to breaking point. You know there are more than 320,000 households in arrears on electricity, 180,000 behind on gas bills, highest levels on record, homeless figures highest on record, grocery prices rising week on week, insurance, housing, education costs all up. And what has your government done? You've withdrawn energy credits without putting any cushion in place for households. You've failed to index tax bans as Labour had sought. You've left PAYE workers footing the bill for sectoral payoffs and VAT cuts. There's no evidence they will achieve anything other than costing the exchequer. And now as inflation threatens to surge again, the finance minister is kite flying. So Taoiseach, people see through this. They see a government that can find €750 million for sectoral supports while telling households to tighten their belts. They hear your talk of tax breaks on wealth and they're struggling to find the money to cover food and heating costs at the end of the month. And that's why your approach is so frustrating. If you're doing a mini-budget in all but name, why not bring forward a coherent package? Why not take the options that we've proposed? A windfall tax on excess energy profits of big companies. A renewables revolution to end reliance on fossil fuels. Targeted energy credits for working households. And indexation of tax bans. Systemic change, not just token measures. Taoiseach, why won't you just introduce a mini-budget, a coherent package that gives support to struggling households? First of all, we will not be introducing a mini-budget. Could I say to you at the outset that we have taken a strategic approach to this. The most fundamental approach we should take is an understanding of the impacts of this. Not just the immediate impacts of this, but the medium-term impacts on our overall economic life. In terms of the impact on jobs, potentially. In terms of the impact on prices and so on. So we've announced €750 million. There is general relief in terms of the reductions in excess duty on diesel and petrol. Which benefits POE and all workers and everybody who uses their car and so forth. And then there's a targeted approach in terms of families on low incomes. In terms of the extension, as we did, of the fuel allowance. And then in terms of food production and everything to do with food production. And also in terms of the broader haulage logistics supply industry. Which is critical for all of us. Now that is being strategic. Because we're an exporting island. Small island. We export 90% of what we produce. And so it's essential that the logistics supply chain, haulage, is enabled to do its business. And assisted in doing that in terms of the measures that we're bringing in. And that were approved by government today. But were announced, as you know, as part of the €750 million package. And they will mean a lot for hauliers. They'll mean a lot for people who transport goods and services. And also it'll mean a lot for fishers, for example. Who need support and need help. Farmers and indeed contractors. And then the general public through the reduction in excise duties itself. You must realize that before the war, way back in February, Minister Dara O'Brien announced a significant overhaul of the retrofitting schemes. And an expansion of them. Increased grants for attic and cavity wall insulation. Additional attic insulation top-up grant for first-time buyers. Attic and cavity wall insulation. Second wall measure. A new grant for energy-efficient windows and doors. Expanded heat pump systems grant. Totalling now €12,500. And on and on. The results of all of that is that about 29,000 people have applied in the first quarter alone. Which is a substantial increase, I think, on last year. And so there's very good feedback from his approach, strategic approach, to the whole energy saving and insulation and so on, which has been quite significant over the last number of years in terms of the impact that it's had on thousands and thousands of households across the country. And I agree with you, that is one of the more effective ways to cushion people and to help people to bear the brunt of what are very, very serious increases in energy costs arising out of the war. Well Taoiseach, I absolutely acknowledge that the energy shock, the particular energy crisis that we are now in, is of course caused by international events. In particular by Trump and Netanyahu's illegal war on Iran. And I think we're all conscious of that. It's how we respond that's the question. And two things. First, you acknowledge systemic change is needed. I think you did in your response to me. Absolutely, I agree. We need to change the way we work. We need to change the way we do business. Change our reliance on fossil fuels. So we need that renewables revolution. And you didn't respond on that. And yes, it's welcome to see measures in retrofitting. But the upfront costs of fitting solar panels, for example, of installing heat pumps, these are massive for households and there's far too little available. And the rollout of renewables, of our capacity to generate through onshore and offshore wind, far too slow. And we from opposition have supported efforts by government to speed up the pace. But we're seeing so little being done on what should be a huge, huge thing for us. The rollout of offshore and onshore wind generating capacity. And the second thing to say, Taoiseach, is that there are consequences to rolling out continuous series of support measures. People are not sure what's going on. They lack certainty. They lack clarity. And they are really concerned about how to pay for basics in this cost of living process. I wouldn't agree with you that it's too slow, Deputy. When you look at the response to the measures that Deputy O'Brien announced in February, I mean, over 1,730 applications for attic installation. That's up 81% year on year. Over 1,000 applications for cavity wall installation, up 62%. 350 applications for heat pump installations, up 95%. 7,000 applications for window and door upgrades. It's a new grant. Over 10,000 applications for solar PV. That's up 65% year on year. And over 1,500 homes at risk of energy poverty upgraded under the warmer home scheme to the end of March at an average cost per home of 31,000. That's up 18%. 900 heat pumps installed to the end of March. A new grant for first-time buyers. 225 active applications. And new energy programs for attic and cavity wall. Again, significant numbers. So, essentially, the revamp of the scheme and the overhaul of the scheme has resulted in a very, very significant increase in the numbers applying. Thank you, Taoiseach. Time is up. Deputy Holley.