Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fáilte to our guests. I commend the Rural Independent Group on bringing forward this motion. This debate has an all too familiar feel to it. For the past 18 months to two years, Opposition Members have been referring to the lived realities of the people we represent, the fact that the cost of living was exacerbating matters and that the long-standing crisis in provisions like housing, insurance costs and other household costs, such as childcare, was being compounded by soaring energy costs. The story is familiar. We bring forward solutions, proposals and those lived realities and a Green Party Minister comes before the House and basically says everyone is wrong, while Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Deputies are in hiding. Then, maybe six months later, Government will take some part of the Opposition proposals and meekly, half-heartedly make some changes. It is always too little, too late.

We are in November and thanks be to God it has been milder than usual. Some will say that is not a good thing because it is a sign of the climate change we face. That is true but thank God from the perspective of many people who I deal with on a weekly basis. They are in dread of a cold spell and what it will mean for their electricity costs, and unsure whether they will be able to heat their home or if doing so will be at the expense of feeding their family.

Again, a set of proposals have been brought to the Minister of State. Again, Deputy O'Rourke has set out what needs to be done and, again, the Minister of State has outlined that he has virtually no intention of taking on board what has been asked of him, namely, facing up to the giant corporate energy companies who are fleecing the Minister of State and taking him and his Government for a ride. The Government has been defending them and going to Europe to fight measures that would force them to pay additional taxes or to decouple their prices. I implore the Government to change tack and start acting on behalf of workers and families, as opposed to energy companies.

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