Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I will mention the risk of people dying unnecessarily during the winter, as happened in this country even before the energy price hikes. Every winter, 1,500 to 2,000 people, most of whom are elderly and less well off, die as a result of the impact of winter, the cost of heating and so on. That situation will get exponentially worse in light of the current price hikes. I again ask whether the Taoiseach will use the powers available to him under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 to control the price of energy, including electricity and heat, and to expand the financial assistance available through the fuel allowance to cover more households. Of course, there is an international context to this matter but this country lining up with NATO in a conflict between it and Russia is not a very sensible strategy to address that wider international context.

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