People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett is calling on the government to “do something” to control profiteering in housing as people are suffering because of unaffordable rents and house prices.
Mr Boyd Barrett told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that consumer price legislation could be implemented to stop price control.
“The big supermarket chains have seen their profits absolutely escalate.
"We're seeing similar with the energy companies all making up their record profits. We're seeing the same with the banks. We're seeing the same with the health insurance companies.
"So the cost of living misery that ordinary working people are suffering, that is leading to food and energy poverty and to huge anger among working people who go out, they work hard. But at the end of the day, they are struggling to pay the bills.
“And there's another group of people who are benefiting. And this government has facilitated that. And time and time again, we have urged the government to do something to control the profiteering we see in housing while other people are suffering because of unaffordable rents and house prices.”
A cap on kilowatt hourly prices would stop profiteering by energy companies, he said. The cost of basic goods should also be capped which would stop profiteering by major supermarkets.
“Price controls were introduced very regularly, have been introduced in times of war historically, and this, to my mind, is a similar emergency where we're seeing huge numbers of people struggling.
"There was a survey showed a while ago that 40 percent of parents are missing meals in order to feed their children. Now, I consider that pretty serious.”
“In this country at the moment, we're subsidising the rich.
"We've massive tax breaks and tax credits and so on are being given to the rich. So working people are subsidising the profits of the shareholders of big businesses in this country. We would like to reverse the subsidies so ordinary working people get some support from the state.”
Mr Boyd Barrett also defended his proposal to abolish property tax. “The family home has been paid for already by working people. The idea that that is wealth when what we're actually seeing is 58 percent of the wealth in this country is held by 10 percent of the population.
“There are tens of thousands of people in my constituency living in former council houses, for example, who are working, people who are struggling and you want to tax them on their family home? No.
"What I want to do is tax real wealth, people who have multiple properties or who have masses of personal wealth.
"That money would then be available to fund our public services, to do things like get rid of the universal social charge, a savage austerity tax that we were told was temporary that was imposed on working people to pay for the crimes of bankers and speculators who wrecked the economy in this country.”
Mr Boyd ~Barrett also said it was a mistake for Sinn Féin not to accept a voting pact with “all the parties on the left” which would have created a left alliance “and give a clear commitment that they would not prop up yet another Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael government.”
