This government is systematically squeezing Irish families dry during a cost-of-living crisis—and now they’ve set their sights on your children’s dreams and future,” declared Paul Lawless TD, in response to the €1,000 rise in third-level college fees. Families are drowning in bills—rent that’s sky-high, electricity that could light up the Vatican, and grocery prices that turn the weekly shop into a dreaded event—and what does this government do? They throw another weight around your neck by hiking college fees.
They promised to reduce college fees, even to abolish them. Now they’re hiking them. This isn’t just a U-turn; it’s a handbrake turn on a cliff-edge. Less than 3 weeks before the election Simon Harris stated, Fine Gael’s general election manifesto included a commitment to phasing out third-level fees entirely now they want a €1,000 hike.
The government’s reckless mismanagement has already made it nearly impossible for parents to keep the lights on and the fridge full, and now they’re demanding you cough up an extra grand if your child dares to dream of a better future. This is a government that wastes your taxes on vanity projects and consultants, then cries poor when it comes to educating your children. With one hand they leak your hard-earned money, with the other they pick your pocket.
Families already grappling with the financial weight of rent levels that rival mortgage payments, electricity prices that rank among the most expensive in Europe, and food staples like chicken and butter spiralling in cost, are now handed another burden. Eurostat has confirmed that Ireland trails only behind Denmark in the EU for high living costs, making daily life untenable for many. Petrol and diesel alone are draining €4 billion annually from family incomes. Meanwhile, the government continues to hike student fees—ignoring the very promise they campaigned on to reduce, if not abolish, them altogether. Minister James Lawless now confirms a thousand-euro increase, directly contradicting pre-election commitments from Fine Gael and the Programme for Government.
This comes at a time when planning delays have become emblematic of dysfunction at the heart of governance. An Coimisiún Pleanála cannot provide timelines, and applications remain unresolved for over 16 months. These delays are not trivial; they are central to the housing crisis affecting thousands. And while ministers take a hands-off approach, communities endure a system where serial objectors—often with no local ties—can stymie much-needed development. It is government by abdication, while working families pay the price.
Now, in their first budget following the election, the government appears poised for retraction. Promises made to gain power are quietly dropped. The budget that once lavished unsustainable giveaways for votes has given way to measures that punish the very families who entrusted this government with their future
The true cost of this government’s inaction is not measured in euros, but in futures quietly slipping out of reach.
