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Rising Costs, Rising Concerns: Pringle Highlights Economic Strain on Donegal Families Amid Cost-of-Living Crisis
- Updated: 1st May 2024
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, blamed successive governments’ policies for increasing inequality in society as he called on Government to listen to the voices of families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
Addressing the Dáil on Tuesday, Deputy Pringle said: “I want to echo the calls of many here on the opposition benches tonight as we try to get it through to Government ministers and Government-supporting TDs the depth of hurt that the current cost-of-living crisis is continuing to have on families in our communities up and down the country. Quoting macro-economic figures for inflation or growth and the like are meaningless to the working mothers and fathers across Donegal, who are struggling to meet their bills and put food on the table for their children.
“Fuel prices are only one aspect of the overall financial strains faced by families who come to my offices in Donegal. Put this alongside massive increases in the cost of food, increased insurance costs, ever increasing electricity, phone and internet charges, and the inability to afford to rent or buy their own homes. It is leaving so many people with a deep sense of helplessness and despair.
“Primarily it is driven by the policies pursued by successive governments under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, blindly praying at the altar of the false gods of neoliberal capitalism and the free-market racketeering fallacy that is rapidly increasing inequality in our society. The rise of extremism across Ireland is a direct consequence of these policy decisions by this government,” he said.
The deputy was speaking on Tuesday in support of the Sinn Féin Motion re Petrol and Diesel Excise Rate Increases, which called on Government to scrap planned price hikes on petrol and diesel.
Deputy Pringle said: “In Donegal and the other border counties, as well as pushing so many families to the brink, it is having a secondary effect on many small businesses in the fuel retail sector, where, when I checked today on my way to Dublin, the cross-border divergence in prices at the pumps was from 10 to 18 cents a litre. Many of these businesses have written to the Minister directly and in cases that have come across my desk had not received the courtesy of a reply until prompted by myself through parliamentary questions or follow up with the Minister’s office.
“I ask the government to listen to the voices and concerns of people up and down the country that we are bringing to you tonight and to pass this motion. But more importantly, then, to act on it once it is passed,” he said.
