Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I commend the Deputy on putting forward this motion and highlighting yet another broken Government promise. As we near the end of this debate, it is important to remind ourselves that we are discussing the issue of fuel poverty in the first place because the Government failed in a number of key commitments. In the renewed programme for Government, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party committed to a fuel poverty strategy by the end of 2009. We have not yet seen that strategy.

The programme stated that the Government would introduce a carbon tax in budget 2010 and cited one of the guiding principles governing the tax as protecting those most at risk of fuel poverty. We got the tax but those most at risk of fuel poverty received no compensation.

See this speech in context