Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach says that no one will face disconnections this winter. He says that people will not be left sitting in cold, dark houses. What he has not said is how this is going to be accomplished or how the 400,000 people with prepaid meters will be looked after. These are vulnerable people who are now terrified because of the lack of information and direction from the Government. This winter they will have to choose between heating their homes or what they can buy in the shop.

The Taoiseach made empty promises about people not having cold homes this winter. It is all very well and good for members of the Government to tell people to go to their social welfare office. What happens at 7 p.m. on a Saturday or Sunday evening when people run out of money and they have to make a choice between whether to put money into the prepaid meter or to go to the shop to try to get lunches for their children or if one of their kids is sick they have to get Calpol or other medication? What do people do? They are the questions people are asking me. I have never seen a social welfare office open at the weekend or at night. We all know what will happen. The likes of Penny Dinners, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and other charities will step in like they always do, but they should not have to. People will then have to turn to moneylenders or other ways of getting money because at the end of the day they have to keep their homes warm in the wintertime and they have to put food on the table and pay their bills. It is going to force more and more people into borrowing money they do not have from people who can overcharge them. This is the Government's job. The Taoiseach has made his statement and he needs to deliver.

We are supposed to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world with our GDP regularly ranked in the top five globally. The reality is that in rich countries like ours no child should have to go cold or hungry. No older person should be standing in their local shop trying to soak up the heat before they go back to a cold home and put on two or three coats to try to keep themselves warm. One older person spoke to me last week about the cost of boiling the kettle. Someone said earlier that it is double the price it was this time last year. Is it not shocking that an older person is worried about boiling the kettle, the one luxury a person might have, because of the cost of energy?

We welcome the €600 credit. For some people this will make a real difference, but for the majority of people it will not. People are being forced to pay off bills for their prepaid meters that they cannot afford. Unfortunately, the €600 is not enough. The energy companies need to figure this out. We need to stop disconnections this winter. We need to bring in a windfall tax for these companies that are making huge profits. I will leave the Minister of State with this point. Today on 96FM there was a gentleman from Youghal who said he had to close his café because he could not afford his energy bills. This is the start of it.

See this speech in context