Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has come as a huge shock to those in my constituency of Dublin North-West who depend on domestic fuel oil to see that domestic fuel costs in Dublin, which averaged around 68 cents per litre just last year, have since increased to a staggering €1.32 per litre, having reached a peak in May of almost €1.76 per litre. It costs €1,300, on average, to fill a tank. How long the fill would last depends on usage. A poorly insulated house uses more fuel. Larger families use more fuel as well. A full tank might only last a couple of months before a second fill is needed in order to get through the remainder of the winter. This is beyond the means of many pensioners and low income families. Many are being forced to choose between putting aside what little money they have to heat their homes and putting food on the table.

Everything is rising in cost. Electricity and gas suppliers and fuel companies have put up their prices on a number of occasions over the past year. A situation is developing where vulnerable old people will try to save money on energy costs by not always heating their home and putting themselves at risk of hypothermia. We cannot put the elderly or families at risk of fuel poverty.

Energy companies are making exceptional profits in these times of crisis. Bord Gáis, for example, has seen its profits surge by 74% in the first half of this year. It is reasonable that some of these excessive profits should be taxed and used to alleviate the dire circumstances faced by many people in my constituency.

Other measures to alleviate the hardship people are experiencing that the Government could implement now would be to give a double child benefit payment to every child, cap electricity prices and assist low and middle income families by means of a direct cost-of-living cash payment to support workers and families.

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Families are suffering now and, as winter approaches, it is going to get worse. Now is the time to implement remedial measures to alleviate some of the pain resulting from this cost-of-living crisis.

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