Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Some latitude was given to the previous speakers. Many of the occupants of private rented accommodation are the lowest paid workers, as well as people on social welfare who are not entitled to fuel allowance. While it has been mentioned people might be given tax credits, many of the people I know are not even earning enough to get tax credits because they are on the minimum wage. What will happen to that cohort while the consultation and everything else is happening? We are trying to point out today that there are real situations where people will be caught in poverty traps, in particular fuel poverty traps. I also want to highlight the position of farmers whose income is €10,000 to €12,000 a year. There has been a cessation of turf cutting and, in many areas, turf cutting is not and was never available. Those people are going to be caught. We hear about reviews, studies and everything else but, out in the real world, among those 497,101 households, a huge cohort are facing freezing cold winters. They have gone through such winters before but, in the future, if these carbon taxes are loaded on, many of them will suffer from hypothermia.