The cost of living in Ireland is on the rise with prices set to remain high in the months ahead.
The government is planning to introduce a package of measures to assist the public with daily expenses, including a National Retrofit Scheme and energy rebate of €113.50.
It comes as one Junior Minister came under fire for saying that people should stop "complaining" about the high prices and "shop around" instead.
Minister of State at the Department of Finance Sean Fleming apologised for the remarks, saying he is "very aware of the cost of living pressures many are currently facing".
Discussing the issue on RTE's Liveline programme on Tuesday, one woman called Maria explained how she is struggling to afford food each week as utilities take up most of her social welfare payment.
"I'm on jobseekers, it's just crazy, €200 trying to pay ESB, insurance, most weeks I don't have enough to eat," she told Joe Duffy.
"I have begged since before Christmas for fuel allowance, I only got €300 last week and I had to pay my ESB bill this morning which was €150.
"Most weeks I am [going without food] because I have bills, I have rent.
"I'm waiting to go on disability...I can talk but no one is listening.
"I've done it all and I'm gone to the stage where I'm almost begging and you have to give up once it goes to that.
"When you're sitting in the cold most days with a hot water bottle and you're sparing the water so your ESB bill won't go up, people don't realise how bad it is out there."
Brid O'Brien, Head of Policy and Media Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, believes the purchasing power of the jobseeker's allowance has "lost ground".
"It's an inadequate payment, a lot of people struggle as it is and this was before we started to see inflation emerging in the Irish economy," she told the Irish Mirror.
"We would really like to see the payment achieve two things: to lift people above the poverty line and to ensure people can meet a minimum essential standard of living.
"For that, it would need to be increased and addressing the issue of adequacy is something that the government has failed to do.
"It was striking the level that the Pandemic Unemployment Payment was set in comparison to where a jobseeker's payment is set.
"As we can see with the PUP, once the economy reopened the numbers on the payment dropped quite dramatically.
"So really it is ensuring that people can manage on the payment, that they're not struggling to make ends meet because it can be very difficult to seek and find a job if you're struggling to make ends meet and on a welfare payment."
