Paul Donnelly: Demands Emergency Budget, 'We're Being Screwed'
Paul Donnelly addresses the Dail, calling for an immediate emergency budget to relieve soaring energy costs, rising rents and a worsening cost-of-living crisis. He accuses Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of leaving households worse off and of failing to act until pressured.
Paul Donnelly urges the government to introduce an emergency budget now rather than waiting until October. He says unsustainably high energy and fuel prices, combined with rising rents and inflation, are forcing households to cut spending and risk destabilising local economies.
Donnelly highlights specific impacts: people with disabilities were left 1,400 euro worse off in the recent budget and almost 320,000 households are in arrears on electricity bills. He criticises recent reversals on electricity credits and cuts that he says punish workers and families.
He targets Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for what he calls misleading promises on waste charges, water privatisation and temporary taxes that became permanent. Donnelly calls for restoring supports such as removing the universal social charge and reinstating electricity relief for those most affected.
Donnelly warns that without immediate intervention, local economies will suffer as people prioritise basics over spending. He frames the debate as a choice between supporting workers now or allowing further economic pain to spread through households and communities.
Emergency budget demand
Paul Donnelly urges the government to introduce an emergency budget now rather than waiting until October. He says unsustainably high energy and fuel prices, combined with rising rents and inflation, are forcing households to cut spending and risk destabilising local economies.
Impact on vulnerable households
Donnelly highlights specific impacts: people with disabilities were left 1,400 euro worse off in the recent budget and almost 320,000 households are in arrears on electricity bills. He criticises recent reversals on electricity credits and cuts that he says punish workers and families.
Accountability and policy critique
He targets Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for what he calls misleading promises on waste charges, water privatisation and temporary taxes that became permanent. Donnelly calls for restoring supports such as removing the universal social charge and reinstating electricity relief for those most affected.
Consequences and urgency
Donnelly warns that without immediate intervention, local economies will suffer as people prioritise basics over spending. He frames the debate as a choice between supporting workers now or allowing further economic pain to spread through households and communities.
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Transcript
It's interesting, you know, you look at the statement from the Minister and, you know, clapping yourselves on the back for doing something over the last couple of weeks when you were dragged kicking and screaming to it and you still couldn't get it right. Unsustainably high energy fuel prices in this state further compounds a pre-existing cost of living crisis that's been going on for the last number of years. We've been saying it yet cynically when the election was over what did Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do? Well in the budget you left people worse off, particularly and most cruelly people with disabilities were €1,400 worse off. You dropped supports for ordinary workers and families, you left people high and dry with growing food bills, rocketing electricity and gas bills. There's now a record number of people unable to pay their electricity bills with almost 320,000 households in arrears. People are getting hit by unaffordable rents caused by, again, really bad decision making in terms of rents. Higher mortgage payments, childcare, college fees, insurance prices, inflation is higher than when the government projected on budget day. It's the last week waste management companies put an energy surcharge on top of a 9% increase that they introduced in January. We're being screwed by greedy companies when we pay for our heavily packaged food and now we're being screwed to take away that packaging. I remember the slogan from many Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors who were in Fingal County Council. Remember they said you'll only pay for what you throw away, another lie, another trap to commoditise and privatise waste management. And where would we be paying through the nose for water charges if both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had got their way but thankfully the people stood up to you and your privatisation agenda. Supporting people is the right decision for the economy. Without intervention we risk having the legs kicked out from one of our local economies as people cut back spending just to get by. People are wise to you and they're seeing through your nonsense and your misinformation. On the one hand you're saying we're the best little country in Europe, sure we've got surpluses every year, £9 billion this year, £12 billion last year, and then crying that money doesn't grow on trees. And where will you get the money to pay for your emergency budget? You can't have it both ways, you're speaking out of both sides of your mouth. But do you know what you have plenty of money for? Bike sheds, not our grandiose bike shed that we saw coming to light today. Minister, you need to bring in an emergency budget and as has been said already, give it back to the workers. The universal social charge that Fine Gael promised in 2016 we'd get rid of. You know that temporary tax that was brought in to pay the bankers and the bondholders? They got their money, they all got paid off. Why? Because you screwed the people. You screwed the workers in 2009, 2010, right the way through the austerity years. And what was temporary becomes permanent and I know Leo's gone at the moment but that was certainly one of his promises back in the day in 2016. The universal social charge needs to be addressed. Electricity credits, remember those credits you were given up the last couple of budgets just before the election? And then you stopped straight after the election, that one as well. And particularly I would ask for people with disabilities, because I think that is really cruel. The people who need it most are people who have disabilities and yeah, 1400 euro worse off. And we talk about people, people getting to work, do you have any person stuck on the M50, stuck on the M3 and the M4, trying to get into work, burning up fuel that they're paying much more at the pumps for. And again, just this week, Ireland has the highest energy rates in Europe. I think it's something like 40 odd percent higher than most of Europe and this is European Day. I think it's coming on Saturday, European Day, and we had those statements today on European Day. Well why don't we do what the rest of Europe are doing? Why can't we have the same price for electricity there if we're all in this together? We don't, because we're not all in it together. We're being screwed. The workers and families in this country are being screwed and it's time to act and it's time to act now. You cannot wait until October for you and your government to be able to deal with this crisis. People need it now. Go raibh maith agat.