Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I do not know how many motions or debates we will have to have in order to get the Minister and the Government to have respect for the people who we are supposed represent. We should respect them as ordinary, hard-working, decent people. I say this because at the moment the Minister is driving them to misery and into perishing in their homes. They are unable to drive when they have to drive.

The genie is out of the bottle. We know that the Government is the single, biggest increaser of price across the board, whether it be Bord Gáis, the ESB, oil, home heating oil or whatever. The Government has a brass neck to continue doing it. I asked the Minister two weeks ago whether he would confirm it for me. However, I know the answer and so does he. The more the price goes up, the greater the tax take. They are putting VAT on top of excise duty. I cannot imagine that the Minister will come in here next month and put on more carbon tax. I just cannot imagine that. However, I would not be not surprised. Take the ESB, for instance. Most people in ordinary or modest homes have heating bills that have gone up from anywhere between €1,000 and €1,300. The price of a bag of coal has doubled in 12 months. Who is codding whom here? They are blaming this on the unfortunate, horrible war in Ukraine. If there is a war, we should dispense with all of the fanciful green projects and deal with people on a wartime footing. We should have wartime solutions to wartime situations. It is as simple as that. The Minister cannot have his cake and eat it. He cannot have butter on both sides and jam as well. The people know full well now and we will keep reminding them of who is the biggest - I hate to use the word “tease” - who has the biggest impact in the pocket of the housewives and of the people. It is tú féin.

The ESB made €693 million gross profit last year. They made €191 million in net profit. It paid into the Government’s coffers €126 million of a gratuity or a fund, thereby robbing the people again. Why could the Minister not forgo that €126 million and investigate why in the ESB - which a company that is 95% owned by the taxpayer and not the Government - the gross profit was €693 million and the gross profit was only €191 million? Where did the rest of it go? They are codding us all the way. We have sold most off most of our resources here. We have sold them off. Bord Gáis had the audacity to come out at the weekend and talk about 30% and 40% increases. People cannot afford this. The Government knows that but it does not seem to care. As I said, if it is a wartime situation, we should opt for wartime solutions. We should get rid of the fancy pipe dreams that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Green Party have and that the Government is pursuing, along with carbon tax and everything else. The Government should come clean with the people. It show the people that it is the biggest takers of the money from people’s pockets all of the time.

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