Pringle links ‘rise of extremism’ to ‘neoliberal capitalism’ and rising inequality

Transcript

00:00 Fuel prices are only one aspect of the overall financial strains faced by families who come

00:04 to my offices in Donegal.

00:06 Put this alongside a massive increase in the cost of food, increased insurance costs, ever

00:12 increasing electricity, phone and internet charges and the inability to afford to rent

00:17 or buy their own homes, it is leaving so many people with a deep sense of helplessness and

00:22 despair.

00:23 Primarily it is driven by the policies pursued by successive governments under Fianna Fáil

00:28 and Gail, blindly praying at the altar of the false gods of neoliberal capitalism and

00:33 the free market racketeering fallacy that is rapidly increasing inequality in our society.

00:38 The rise of extremism across Ireland is a direct consequence of these policy decisions

00:42 by this government.

00:44 In Donegal and the other border counties, as well as pushing so many families to the

00:48 brink, it is having a secondary effect on many small businesses in the fuel retail sector

00:52 where, when I checked today on my way to Dublin, the cross-border divergence in prices at the

00:58 pumps was from 10 to 18 cents a litre.

01:01 Many of these businesses have written to the Minister directly and in cases that have come

01:04 across my desk have not received the courtesy of a reply until prompted by myself through

01:09 parliamentary questions or follow-up with the Minister's office.

01:13 The fact that he keeps constantly referring that we are on some sort of neoliberal agenda

01:17 really has to ask me has he actually even read anything about neoliberalism because

01:23 if I am a neoliberal my year spent studying political science was for nothing because

01:28 it is so wild but it's an easy trope to throw around a chamber with someone you simply don't

01:32 disagree with and when you'd want to diminish the very real factors of the inflation rate

01:36 Ciarán Hearlech fell to 1.6% in April, its lowest rate since June 2021.

01:42 An average inflation rate of 2.1% is expected for the year as a whole and key to this will

01:47 be continued decline in energy prices as wholesale gas cuts are passed through to consumers and

01:52 I think every deputy has to acknowledge that when it comes to wholesale gas cuts that there

01:56 is a lag.

01:57 If we fail to acknowledge, if we just take the wholesale price of today and say that

02:01 should be the price that people are receiving in their bills today we're not realistically

02:04 understanding how the energy market works and how it gets from the field to the house.