Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris
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What are the main challenges faced by the Minister for Finance?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
WhatsApp us this morning 087 1400 106 or email clareburn at newstalk.com. Well, I'm joined in the studio now by the Thornishdown Minister for Finance, Simon Harris, Fine Gael TD for Wicklow. You're very welcome. Thank you for coming in. You were put under a bit of pressure in the Dáil yesterday by Sinn Féin and Labour over the cost of living. Both parties urging you to introduce a mini budget now to help people with rising costs. Now you said you can't come in every week with packages, but you know what people see that... The protesters got what they wanted through pure brute force and everybody else has to make do. What do you say to that charge?
That it's fundamentally untrue. Let me tell you why. So we have put in place measures specifically for sectors. What has not been said is two things. Firstly, the biggest part of the package is a reduction in excise at the pumps, which benefits most people in this country. Most people, anybody in fact, who got in a car this morning and drove to work and uses diesel or petrol. And secondly, and I think this is a really important point because I do get it that it's tough for people, the package that we've put in place will reduce what would have been the inflation rate by around 0.6% each of the months that it's in place. So what does that basically mean? It means if you go into a supermarket, your Tesco, your SuperValue, your Sentra, whatever the cost of an item on the shelf was, it would be lower than it would have been otherwise.
So the economic benefit of this package, and this is not just my view, it's the chief economist's analysis of the package, will suppress the inflation rate by around 0.6%.
So everybody benefits, you're saying?
But no, not just I'm saying.
How is the government addressing the cost of living crisis?
The statement of fact is that everybody benefits.
But the package, the size of the package, 750 million euro, although construction now included, so it may be more than that. It makes it hard to say no to the other groups knocking on the door. You know, the unions who already made the point, look, we see what can be done in a very short space of time.
Well, look, none of this is easy. So, I mean, I think that's the starting point. None of this is easy. War is not easy. There's nothing ideal here. The world is going through the largest global energy crisis in decades, if not ever. So none of this is easy. But it does make sense. to target in the first instance the sectors that are most dependent on fuel. Not just for those sectors, but actually for the broader benefit of the Irish economy. Because there's a huge, huge, huge link between the cost of fuel and the level of inflation. And of course, the level of inflation affects every family, every business, every person. But this is not the final word. I mean, our country is in good economic stead. We do have to take it step by step.
And I'm not flippant when I say, I don't mean to be flippant. No one should be flippant about this. When I say there can't be a budget every week, but there can't. You know, we have just announced one of the largest packages, if not the largest, in the European Union. We managed to do that without borrowing because the economy is in good stead.
But you were forced to do it.
No, I don't agree with that at all. I mean, I do agree that people are angry. I do agree that people are really feeling the pinch. And obviously there was widespread protest across the country. But we had already taken measures on excise and we had already said we intended to come back and do more in relation to the agri-food sector and in relation to the haulage sector. But I have to be honest with people. If I thought this crisis was going to end today, tomorrow, next week, next month, of course we could have different conversations about what to do in the era now. But I have to be honest about the winter.
What do you say to the unions, though, and the representative bodies, including the Garda Representative Association? They said that they may refuse now to cooperate with planning and policing around the EU presidency because they see what can happen when you put the pressure on.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the main challenges faced by the Minister for Finance?
0:01–1:46
2
How is the government addressing the cost of living crisis?
1:46–4:25
3
What measures are being taken to support specific sectors affected by fuel prices?
4:25–6:38
4
How does the recent economic package impact inflation rates?
6:38–13:51
5
What is the government's stance on public sector pay negotiations?
13:51–19:13
6
How is the government planning to support families during the energy crisis?
19:13–30:01
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Claire Byrne Show
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