Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are just three weeks away from the Government's carbon tax hike on 1 May. This is the same day that the latest round of energy price hikes from providers will kick in. The carbon tax will make life harder for workers and families who are already struggling to keep on top of their soaring energy bills. They live in dread, in panic and, in some cases, in fear. People are being fleeced by big energy companies, which are making bumper profits. It is crazy that the Government, which should act to protect households, will come along at the start of next month and pile on more pressure. Instead of supporting households, the Government will ratchet up pressure on families with a tax hike that adds to the already unaffordable price of home heating fuels. At the weekend, Ministers, including the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, vowed that the carbon tax increase will go ahead despite the extraordinary crisis that households face. Almost in the same breath, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, told workers and families to save money by taking shorter showers and by driving less.

That was the Government position on Sunday.

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