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

First, energy costs went up 27% last year, before the Ukraine crisis. The Minister cannot hide behind the Ukraine crisis and use it as an excuse. He absolutely failed to address the fact that while ordinary householders, many of them pensioners and people on low incomes - ordinary working people - are crippled by these hikes in prices, all of the energy companies are seeing record profits. Similarly, rents are up by 10% in Dublin and by 20% in other parts of the country while all of the REITS, vulture funds and landlords are seeing increases in their profits but the Government will not control their profits. It is okay to land the costs on those who can least afford them, on working people, pensioners and those on low incomes, but the Government will not touch the profits of those who are making money out of this crisis. That is the elephant in the room.

The Minister cannot hide behind Ukraine. Of course we want solidarity with the Ukrainian people, but simultaneously we need to solve the housing crisis and control the cost of living. Why will the Government not take the empty houses from the vulture funds, REITs and speculators who are sitting on them?

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