Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too thank People Before Profit for bringing forward this important and timely motion. We are facing a winter of discontent, but it must not be a winter of disconnect. Global gas prices have climbed to the highest levels in more than seven years. There are external factors that impact on the wholesale price of gas and electricity in Ireland, but the Government needs to put measures in place to reduce the effects those external factors have on citizens.

Government charges, including carbon tax, make up 16.2% of electricity bills and 17.4% of gas bills. The Government and, in particular, the party of the Minister of State, that is, the Green Party, can dress this unfair tax up any way they wish but it is a brutal and punitive tax that will impact on the people who can afford it least. It applies to all the things people cannot do without - petrol to get them to work, gas to cook their dinner and home heating oil to keep them warm. If one has the money, one can buy an electric car, install a fleet of panels on one's roof and retrofit one's house in order to avoid the tax increases in all these areas, but the ordinary people of Dublin Mid-West do not have additional funds. Increases in house prices, rents, childcare and the general cost of living have pushed people to the pin of their collar.

Sinn Féin has called for a €5 million discretionary fund for those struggling to meet fuel bills this winter as a result of the increase in prices. We need to start putting things in place now to stop people from getting cold this winter. Sinn Féin has published legislation that would ban utility disconnections during the fuel allowance season. That would remove the threat over people's heads of being cut off if they are struggling to pay their bills during winter. A couple of weeks ago, I contributed to the statements on child poverty. Those listening to that debate heard that parents are making stark choices to heat the house or feed the family. That is a choice no family should have to make. This must not be a winter of disconnect.

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