Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----in terms of Putin's war on the people of Ukraine and his weaponisation of war. We need to be very clear about that at all times in assessing and in how we respond to this issue. It is having massive consequences for the entirety of Europe, so it makes sense that Ireland respond as part of the wider European Union framework. We are not just relying on EU measures alone, as the Deputy wrongly suggested in remarking on the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath's comments yesterday, but the European Union framework is extremely important.

We import from the United Kingdom three quarters of the natural gas that we use, but half of our electricity is generated using gas, so spiralling gas prices feed through to higher electricity bills. The price for UK natural gas on wholesale markets today is £3.92 per therm. This day two years ago, the price was 32p per therm. We are talking about a more than tenfold increase, more than 1,000%, in international gas prices. Future markets are pointing to even higher prices in the coming months. A therm of gas to be delivered in December will cost £5.74. A February delivery is priced at £5.43. Importantly, non-energy prices are also now surging, with food and other grocery prices rising rapidly and putting severe pressure on household budgets. That is the context.

My second point is that the need to intervene in a very significant manner is not questioned. There is no debate about that - the Government is very clear that we have to intervene, as we did last year with the €2.5 billion package on the cost of living. Just like we did during Covid, the Government will intervene again to protect households and jobs.

The issue that the Deputy has put forward is one of methodology, of mechanism, that is, what is the best way of intervening to protect people. The Deputy's view is, and the Sinn Féin position is, that we should give a blank cheque to energy companies in a kind of singular, almost isolated approached to this crisis, which is now much more than an energy crisis for many households. The Government's view is that, for the time being, we want to get people through the winter to the end of March, not the end of February. We have got to do it using a range of measures in terms of reducing electricity bills but also in giving flexibility to people in the form of payments that we give them either through the welfare system, through energy credits, through cost reductions or through investment in public services in the budget, which will also reduce costs for parents and families. There is a range of mechanisms that we can use.

I would ask the Deputy for a fully costed paper from her in terms of her proposals. If she does not mind me saying so, I was less than convinced by her presentation on "Morning Ireland" yesterday. I genuinely would like a fully costed proposal from her in respect of her chosen method of intervention in the electricity price market.

I believe we have to target measures to those who need them the most, but also, universally, people will need support. We need to focus on protecting jobs because, clearly, many jobs could be at risk if enterprises become unviable because of the extraordinary increase in energy costs I have just outlined and that is, obviously, a global phenomenon. However, because of the sound management of the economy, we have resources we can allocate to reduce pressures on people and protect jobs, and that is what we intend to do.

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