Cost-of-Living Crisis: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]

The following motion was moved by Deputy Seamus Healy on Thursday, 5 February 2026:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that:

— a cost-of-living crisis exists in this State;

— Budget 2026 was predicated on an inflation rate of 2 per cent, but it is now at 3.2 per cent;

— prices have increased by 23.5 per cent in the last five years;

— food prices have increased by 5 per cent in the last year;

— Irish electricity prices are among the highest in the European Union (EU), 24 per cent higher than the EU average;

— electricity companies have announced an average increase of 10 per cent;

— gas prices have almost doubled in the last five years;

— private house rents have continued to skyrocket, up 4.7 per cent year-on-year and reaching €2,100 per month in Dublin;

— house prices have increased 8.1 per cent year-on-year;

— council house rents have increased, including charging extra rent for person's carer's allowance;

— motor insurance premiums have increased by 17 per cent;

— toll charges have increased;

— Local Property Tax has increased;

— student fees have increased; and

— childcare fees continue to be at mortgage repayment levels;

further notes that:

— 11.7 per cent of the population, 629,425 people, are living in poverty, including:

— 190,108 or 15.3 per cent of children;

— 106,385 or 13 per cent of over 65s;

— 69,244 or 1 in 3 of persons with a long-term illness or a disability; and

— 140,377 workers;

— 298,000 households are in arrears on electricity bills;

— 185,000 households are in arrears on gas bills;

— according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the withdrawal of the once-off cost of living payments will increase general poverty to 12.6 per cent, child poverty to 15.6 per cent, older persons to 17.6 per cent, and decrease the annual income of the poorest 20 per cent of households by 4.15 per cent;

— the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) received 260,000 requests for help in 2025, up 6 per cent on 2024; and

— the SVP received 33,214 energy requests in November 2025 which was the highest ever; and

calls on the Government to:

— stop the price gouging of food and energy companies;

— appoint an agri-food regulator to tackle rip-off food costs;

— introduce price control of food, electricity, gas and fuel costs;

— implement a rent freeze;

— implement a living wage;

— benchmark social welfare increases to the minimum essential standard of living index;

— introduce a weekly cost of disability payment;

— introduce the promised maximum €200 per month child-care cost and commence immediately with the creation of a public child-care service;

— commence the introduction of a free public transport system;

— introduce a second targeted tier of child benefit;

— reinstate energy credits with the immediate payment of a €500 winter payment; and

— introduce a millionaires wealth tax.

Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"notes that:

— the Government is acutely aware of, and concerned about, the impact of rising prices on Irish households, and it is also aware of the high cost of energy prices and the wider impact of the cost of doing business for firms, particularly small firms;

— in relation to Irish households, the Government has already taken the following measures;

— €28.9 billion will be spent on social protection in 2026, including over €1.15 billion of new measures targeted to assist the most vulnerable in our society with the cost of living;

— the supports provided in the budget package helps vulnerable households with the cost of energy bills, such as an increase in the Fuel Allowance scheme and extended eligibility to recipients of the Working Family Payment (WFP);

— the increase of €10 in weekly social welfare primary payments is equivalent to approximately 4.1 per cent, and for pensions the increase is about 3.5 per cent, both above the rate of inflation; and

— these increases follow on from the increase in payment rates in Budget 2025 that were also above the rate of inflation;

recognises, with regard to disability:

— that a Strategic Focus Network Summit on the Cost of Disability is being organised by the Department of Social Protection, and will involve disabled people and their advocates, as well as other Government Departments'; and

— a public consultation process on how a cost of disability can best be delivered will be launched shortly;

further notes, a second targeted tier of child benefit is being examined as a possible approach to reduce child poverty, but existing schemes like the Child Support Payment and the WFP are also available to achieve this end;

further notes, in relation to energy prices, that:

— Ireland has the twelfth highest electricity prices among the European Union (EU)-27, when adjusted for purchasing power parity according to Eurostat (H1 2025), and in nominal terms, Ireland ranks fifth for household electricity prices and eighth for gas prices among EU states;

— electricity and gas markets in Ireland are commercial, liberalised, and competitive, the position of successive Governments is that competitive energy markets result in greater choice for consumers and businesses, in terms of suppliers, products and prices, and price setting by electricity suppliers is a commercial and operational matter for the companies concerned;

— retail prices are influenced by several factors, including wholesale energy prices and supplier hedging, in Ireland, our long-standing reliance on fossil fuels, specifically gas, for electricity generation, has been a driver of higher energy costs, and furthermore, our geographical isolation, dispersed population, fossil fuel dependency and small market scale also influence prices and drive costs;

— the Government has introduced a suite of measures over recent years to help households and businesses deal with the rising cost of energy, including €1,500 in electricity credits to all households through four Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Schemes, at a cost of €3.3 billion, this is in addition to one-off payments to support certain social protection payment recipients; and

— the Government provides support for households through schemes, including, the Fuel Allowance, the Household Benefits Package and the Additional Needs Payment;

affirms that:

— as part of Budget 2026, the Government took action and provided significant supports to enhance energy affordability, including:

— an increase to the Fuel Allowance as well as broadened eligibility for the payment;

— an extension of the reduced Value Added Tax rate of 9 per cent, which is applied to gas and electricity to 2030;

— a continuation of the €400 income tax disregard for certain profits arising from the micro-generation of electricity for a further three years to end 2028; and

— an extension of the Accelerated Capital Allowances scheme for energy efficient equipment for businesses to 2030;

— the Government is committed to taking decisive action to provide warmer, more comfortable homes, as part of our drive to support energy affordability, security, and sustainability, with over 60 per cent of total Government expenditure on residential retrofit over the period 2022-2025 was on homes at risk of energy poverty;

— following approval at Cabinet last week, the Government has published a National Residential Retrofit Plan and an enhanced set of measures to increase the delivery and affordability of home energy upgrades, these measures will continue to make home energy upgrades more accessible and affordable and support more homes to be more sustainable and energy-efficient, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and lowering energy costs for households;

— a record capital allocation of €640 million has been provided for Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland residential and community energy upgrade schemes this year, and a further €140 million has been provided for the Local Authority Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme;

— the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) continues to have a range of customer protection measures in place including, a moratorium on disconnections for vulnerable customers, protections for those on financial hardship meters, minimum debt repayment periods and promotion of the vulnerable customer register;

— the Government has also established the National Energy Affordability Taskforce (NEAT) to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability, and the NEAT Interim Report 2025 was published last November with an Energy Affordability Action Plan to be published in Q3 this year;

— under the auspices of the NEAT, the CRU will lead on the Programme for Government commitment to 'commission an independent review into the speed and level of passthrough from wholesale prices to retail prices, with an additional assessment of the overall price dynamics and an overall focus on the competitiveness of the Irish economy';

— while electricity credits previously played an important role, it should be noted that, despite costing in excess of €3.3 billion, this measure did not permanently reduce the cost of electricity nor are they fiscally sustainable, therefore, the Government has prioritised measures which reduce energy costs in the long-run such as the €3.5 billion investment in Ireland's electricity grid infrastructure as part of the National Development Plan; and

— the range of supports that were included in Budget 2026 are in line with the movement away from one-off measures, towards permanent supports with funding also provided to address structural issues such as retrofit and infrastructure; and

in relation to the cost of doing business, notes that arising from the wider inflationary trends, Government has taken action to address fiscal and regulatory issues, including:

— through the establishment of the Cost of Business Advisory Forum (the Forum), June 2025, and the publication of the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, September 2025;

— both of these actions deliver on the Programme for Government commitments to support small business, enterprise and industries and to develop Government policy which focuses on the economic areas that fall within our domestic sphere of influence;

— the Forum's purpose is to critically examine issues that can lead to higher costs for business in Ireland and review associated regulatory and infrastructural issues that merit a changed approach, at present, there are 24 member organisations who represent a broad section of Ireland's enterprise sector, including, Small and Medium Enterprises and Multinational Corporations, who regularly contribute to the work of the Forum, alongside active engagement and dialogue with a variety of State Agencies, Regulators, and Government Departments;

— the Forum members adopted a comprehensive thematic workplan in June, 2025 and since then have met to consider a series of themes:

— Energy Costs and Security of Supply;

— Insurance Costs;

— Planning and Infrastructural Delivery; and

— Water Services and Wastewater;

— there are a number of remaining meetings scheduled for Q1 2026, and these will focus on legal costs and regulation, reporting and compliance;

— the Forum is in the process of drafting the final report, with an indicative date to present the report to Government in Q1 2026;

— also in August 2025, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) published an update to its 2023 high-level analysis of the grocery sector in Ireland, this analysis confirms that, while food prices have increased significantly in recent years in Ireland, competition is working effectively in the Irish grocery retail sector, notably, food price increases have generally remained below the EU average, which coincides with increasing competition in Ireland; and

— the grocery retail sector remains a key market for the CCPC and it will continue to monitor and review the sector on a regular basis; and

finally, in relation to the National Minimum Wage:

— since 2020, an increase by 40 per cent, from €10.10 to today's rate of €14.15 an hour, following a €0.65 increase in Budget 2026, which amounts to an increase of 4.8 per cent;

— in 2025, the minimum wage increased by over 6 per cent, following a significant uplift of 12 per cent, or €1.40 in the previous year;

— these increases were and are well ahead of inflation and projected wage growth and have brought about substantial real wage growth for the lowest paid workers in our economy; and

— our current rate of €14.15 an hour means that Ireland has the second highest minimum wage in the EU, second only to Luxembourg, and among the highest in the world, when adjusted for purchasing power standards, we have the fifth highest minimum wage in the EU.".

- (Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Deputy Alan Dillon)

Deputy An Ceann Comhairle

I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding the cost-of-living crisis. On Thursday, 5 February 2026, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now.

Amendment put:

The Dáil divided: Tá, 80; Níl, 69; Staon, 0.

Tá

Aird, William.
Ardagh, Catherine.
Boland, Grace.
Brabazon, Tom.
Brennan, Brian.
Brennan, Shay.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Butterly, Paula.
Buttimer, Jerry.
Byrne, Malcolm.
Cahill, Michael.
Callaghan, Catherine.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
Clendennen, John.
Collins, Niall.
Connolly, John.
Cooney, Joe.
Cummins, John.
Currie, Emer.
Daly, Martin.
Dempsey, Aisling.
Dillon, Alan.
Dolan, Albert.
Feighan, Frankie.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
Geoghegan, James.
Grealish, Noel.
Harkin, Marian.
Harris, Simon.
Healy-Rae, Danny.
Healy-Rae, Michael.
Heneghan, Barry.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Keogh, Keira.
Lahart, John.
Lawless, James.
Lowry, Michael.
Maxwell, David.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McCarthy, Noel.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McCormack, Tony.
McGrath, Séamus.
McGreehan, Erin.
Moran, Kevin Boxer.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Moynihan, Shane.
Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
Murphy, Michael.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Neville, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connell, Maeve.
O'Connor, James.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Meara, Ryan.
O'Shea, John Paul.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
Ó Muirí, Naoise.
Richmond, Neale.
Roche, Peter.
Scanlon, Eamon.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Timmins, Edward.
Toole, Gillian.
Troy, Robert.

Níl

Ahern, Ciarán.
Bacik, Ivana.
Bennett, Cathy.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Brady, John.
Buckley, Pat.
Byrne, Joanna.
Carthy, Matt.
Clarke, Sorca.
Collins, Michael.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Coppinger, Ruth.
Cronin, Réada.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Cummins, Jen.
Daly, Pa.
Devine, Máire.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Gannon, Gary.
Gibney, Sinéad.
Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
Gould, Thomas.
Graves, Ann.
Guirke, Johnny.
Hayes, Eoin.
Healy, Seamus.
Hearne, Rory.
Kelly, Alan.
Kenny, Eoghan.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Lawless, Paul.
Lawlor, George.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
McDonald, Mary Lou.
McGettigan, Donna.
McGuinness, Conor D.
Mitchell, Denise.
Murphy, Paul.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
Nolan, Carol.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Donoghue, Robert.
O'Gorman, Roderic.
O'Hara, Louis.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
Quaide, Liam.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Rice, Pádraig.
Sheehan, Conor.
Smith, Duncan.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Wall, Mark.
Ward, Charles.
Ward, Mark.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Seamus Healy and Paul Murphy.

Amendment declared carried.

Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 80; Níl, 69; Staon, 0.

Tá

Aird, William.
Ardagh, Catherine.
Boland, Grace.
Brabazon, Tom.
Brennan, Brian.
Brennan, Shay.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Butterly, Paula.
Buttimer, Jerry.
Byrne, Malcolm.
Cahill, Michael.
Callaghan, Catherine.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
Clendennen, John.
Collins, Niall.
Connolly, John.
Cooney, Joe.
Cummins, John.
Currie, Emer.
Daly, Martin.
Dempsey, Aisling.
Dillon, Alan.
Dolan, Albert.
Feighan, Frankie.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
Geoghegan, James.
Grealish, Noel.
Harkin, Marian.
Harris, Simon.
Healy-Rae, Danny.
Healy-Rae, Michael.
Heneghan, Barry.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Keogh, Keira.
Lahart, John.
Lawless, James.
Lowry, Michael.
Maxwell, David.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McCarthy, Noel.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McCormack, Tony.
McGrath, Séamus.
McGreehan, Erin.
Moran, Kevin Boxer.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Moynihan, Shane.
Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
Murphy, Michael.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Neville, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connell, Maeve.
O'Connor, James.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Meara, Ryan.
O'Shea, John Paul.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
Ó Muirí, Naoise.
Richmond, Neale.
Roche, Peter.
Scanlon, Eamon.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Timmins, Edward.
Toole, Gillian.
Troy, Robert.

Níl

Ahern, Ciarán.
Bacik, Ivana.
Bennett, Cathy.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Brady, John.
Buckley, Pat.
Byrne, Joanna.
Carthy, Matt.
Clarke, Sorca.
Collins, Michael.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Coppinger, Ruth.
Cronin, Réada.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Cummins, Jen.
Daly, Pa.
Devine, Máire.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Gannon, Gary.
Gibney, Sinéad.
Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
Gould, Thomas.
Graves, Ann.
Guirke, Johnny.
Hayes, Eoin.
Healy, Seamus.
Hearne, Rory.
Kelly, Alan.
Kenny, Eoghan.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Lawless, Paul.
Lawlor, George.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
McDonald, Mary Lou.
McGettigan, Donna.
McGuinness, Conor D.
Mitchell, Denise.
Murphy, Paul.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
Nolan, Carol.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Donoghue, Robert.
O'Gorman, Roderic.
O'Hara, Louis.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
Quaide, Liam.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Rice, Pádraig.
Sheehan, Conor.
Smith, Duncan.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Wall, Mark.
Ward, Charles.
Ward, Mark.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Seamus Healy and Paul Murphy.

Question declared carried.

Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar www.oireachtas.ie.

Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 11.48 p.m. go dtí 8.47 a.m., Déardaoin, an 12 Feabhra 2026.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.48 p.m. until 8.47 a.m. on Thursday, 12 February 2026.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 11 Feb 2026