Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When one looks at the figures and the achievement articulated by the Tánaiste with regard to retrofitting, I will be kind and call them modest, but the scale to which the scheme has been rolled out is certainly underwhelming. The Tánaiste must remember that his party promised a €40 million allocation specifically aimed at those suffering fuel poverty. I accept that high energy costs affect everybody and every household, but there is an identifiable group of people who cannot meet their energy bills. Their energy supply is cut off, even after resorting to the use of meters.

The Tánaiste mentioned the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Between 2008 and 2011, just to give a sense of the scale involved, the level of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's assistance to families for fuel increased from €3.8 million to €10.4 million. That is the trend in what the organisation is dealing with.

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