IRELAND IS NOT A “basket case”, according to Finance Michael McGrath, who hit back against assertions made by Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty that people are being “fleeced by the highest prices in Europe”.

In Leaders’ Questions today, Doherty raised a new figures published by the European Commission which present Ireland as the most expensive country in the EU for household expenditure on goods and services, with prices 46% above the EU average.

The high level of overall prices in Ireland is largely driven by expensive alcohol and tobacco, energy, transport, and communications prices.

He said the government is lauding its booming economy – but he said it is not working for everyone and worker’s pay is getting them less and less. 

“It exposes the growing gap between the economic success story of government ministers that they like to tell and the financial reality facing hard working and hard pressed families and households.

“Your failure to convert the economic gains you celebrate into better living standards for our people is clear,” said Doherty. 

“I want to contest your central thesis that Ireland is some kind of a basket case. That is not the case,” said the minister.

“You talk about us talking about the story of economic success. That’s a real story. 2.6 million people at work. That is not fantasy. They’re real people. They’re your constituents. They’re all over the country.

“Unemployment less than 4% at this point in time, and an economy continuing to grow among the fastest growing economies in the last number of years in Europe and budget surpluses because we’re managing the country’s finances well,” said McGrath.

The minister acknowledged the figures, but he said incomes are well above the EU average and that also has to be taken into account. 

“That said, there is no question that inflation has had a really negative impact on the people that we all represent,” said McGrath. 

Energy costs is a key issue for households, he acknowledged, stating that there needs to be a faster pass through of wholesale energy costs to the consumer. 

In the last monthly data, it shows that in May 2023 versus May 2022, wholesale electricity costs were down by 26%.

“So it is my view that we have not today’s had an adequate explanation for the delay in the past through of those reductions,” he added. 

McGrath said there “is undoubtedly scope over the weeks and the months ahead now for the energy companies to reduce the prices that consumers are being charged”.

He said Energy Minister Eamon Ryan and his department have been actively engaging and meeting with energy companies on the matter.