People will be left 'in dire straits' following Christmas and into the new year as the cost of living crisis continues.

That is according to People Before Profit TD for Dublin South-Central Bríd Smith.

She was speaking ahead of planned protests on November 12th calling for 'radical action' on the cost of living and housing crisis.

Deputy Smith told Newstalk Breakfast while once-off payments announced in Budget 2023 are 'very welcome', these are only temporary measures.

"They're not dealing with the systemic issues - for example, there's been no inflation matching increase for pensioners, for people with disabilities, for carers," she said.

"When these double payments are paid off, and after Christmas when there's no more extra money coming in, people are going to find themselves in dire straits because costs are still going up, particularly in housing and in energy.

"It gives the Government a temporary lift, there's no doubt about it... but people's living standards will effectively be cut come the new year and after Christmas.

"So we still need more to be done and more systemic measures to be taken".

Local protests

On the protests, she said numbers will likely be smaller than previously.

"I don't think the numbers will be as large as the last time, but they will be local, very local," she said.

"There'll be protests in places like Sligo, Galway, Cork, Limerick, Drogheda.

"Then in Dublin there's going to be very localised estate-by-estate kind of protests.

"They vary from a march to a street meeting to a banner drop," she added.