Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is quite incredible a week out from Christmas that we are here with nothing more than an outline of a plan to do something on runaway electricity bills and nothing on home heating oil or fuel. Everyone could see the trend. As far back as 3 February Sinn Féin brought a Private Members' motion on the issue. The Government said its hands were tied. Wholesale gas prices increased by 400% and electricity by 200%. The Government said its hands were tied. Over the course of this Dáil term, every time we met in this forum on Priority Questions, I raised this issue and the Government said its hands were tied, pointing to international markets. It is two full months since the European Commission published its toolbox and said the Government's hands were not tied.

When is the measure agreed at Cabinet today to come into effect? Is it the case that the legislation will be in for January? Will the credit be applied to bills in March or April? Is there a way this can be done sooner? The Opposition will work with the Government to make this happen sooner. In our opinion it needs to happen before Christmas.

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