Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty has accused the Government of having its "head in the sand" when it comes to repeated mortgage interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank.
The Donegal deputy derided the Government's strategy of considering the issue in the context of the budget, saying it is "not acceptable" because the situation is now "out of control" for people on tracker mortgages and those whose mortgages were sold to so-called vulture funds.
Mr Doherty told the Dáil of a single parent who had contacted him about how her monthly repayments had risen by €700 per month and she now fears losing her home or going into arrears.
He detailed how a taxi driver, whose monthly payments had increased by €400, told him he could not see how they could sustain the increases and that the family has a child with special needs.
The Sinn Féin TD said the projected latest increase would be another "massive blow" to such people, adding it was "unbearable" given more increases were predicted to land.
In reply, Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien denied that the Government had its head in the sand and suggesting that no one would be left alone, pointed to the Government's assistance to people during the cost-of-living crisis over the winter.
He defended the Government's policy of considering supports in the context of the budgetary cycle, saying it was not possible to deal with such issues on an ad hoc basis.
Minister O'Brien said the last time the measure was introduced it cost €700m, which was a "significant intervention".
In relation to the vulture funds, he said Minister for Finance Michael McGrath had recently met non-bank lenders and emphasised the policy priority was to reduce mortgage arrears and high rates went against that objective.
He accused Sinn Féin of changing its policy from one week to the next, adding that that was not how you run a country or economy.
Mr Doherty said the Government had "done nothing" to help people with arrears, and they were now being told to wait until October to see if the Government would maybe do something.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said the Government will examine in the budget how it can help struggling householders who are facing another interest rate hike today.
Speaking at the opening of a school extension in Ballinacree in Co Meath, Mr Martin acknowledged the pressure these rises are putting on people and in particular mortgage holders.
"We do accept there has been significant pressure on people over the last year-and-a-half since the war in Ukraine began and spiralling inflation arising out of Covid and the war."
"Inflation has to be brought under control; it's coming under control," he said.
"We have to work out how we help people who are under those pressures."
The Tánaiste said the interest rate hikes will be looked in the budget in the wider cost of living context saying "there are a variety of ways we can do this."
Separately, the current industrial action by retained fire fighters was also raised in the Dáil, and Minister O'Brien said that he "is confident" that it can be resolved.
The minister said that there was contact with the unions and the Government, and encouraged them to re-engage with the talks process.
He was responding to Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty said that this is "really a crisis point" which "will result in the collapse of the service".
Meanwhile Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik asked what the Government plans to do when the retained fire fighters do resign in the face of "abysmal" conditions.
"They deserve our respect and they deserve better pay and conditions", she said.
