Councillors seek measures to combat cost of living rise

INDEPENDENT councillor Gerry Flynn put forward a motion at a recent meeting of Clare County Council seeking to reduce the burden of inflation on those with lower incomes, writes Owen Ryan.

“I am calling on the Minister for Finance to broaden the Household Benefits Package and include exemption from property tax for those people that are under extreme pressure to meet day to day expenses in light of the rising cost of living and their struggle to survive on a very low level of income,” he said.

His motion was passed unanimously and he asked that it be circulated to other local authorities and Oireacthas members. 

Speaking about the matter, Councillor Ann Norton said, “There are people out there on social welfare who are getting in and around €203. We all know the cost of living has gone up, we know people are suffering out there, we see the amount of people that are going to collect vouchers for food to cover the basic things in their lives.

“People are living without electricity, without food, children are starving. Thankfully children are fed in certain schools with Deis status. It’s always the marginalised that are suffering, it’s the people that are on small amounts of money that are always hit and I 100% believe that an increase needs to come.”

“If you look at the social welfare payments,€5 in a budget every couple of years is not sufficient. People that are on social welfare, on disability, on illness benefit, they’re the ones that need to be getting the supports.

“They’re the ones that are suffering and it’s absolutely essential that payments start coming and that they should be exempt from everything across the board, because you could not live on €205 a week.”

Sinn Féin’s Donna McGettigan also voiced her support. “The cost of living is really, really high. People are struggling and I fully support the motion.”