Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

It froze again last night, and the cold snap is set to go on through the weekend. The cost of heating a home was high in October and November. In December, it looks like it might go through the roof. Many who have not yet faced the choice of heating or eating will face it now. On Tuesday, a reporter from a Cork radio station spent the day with the local charity, Penny Dinners. He counted 900 food parcels being handed out between 9 a.m. and lunchtime at 12.45 p.m. to people from all walks of life, including students, elderly people, the homeless and workers on their lunch break. EirGrid came close to issuing an amber alert yesterday. There are reports that an alert may not be avoidable in the coming days. This is not so much caused by the cold snap as it is by the energy supply feeding frenzy of the data centres. It is reported that talks took place this week between the Government, ESB networks and EirGrid. I would like the Tánaiste to report to the House on these talks and give an assurance to the country that no household will face power cuts in the week ahead.

According to The Economistmagazine, 147,000 more people will die in Europe this winter, if it is an average winter, than would have been the case five years ago because of rising electricity prices. Price increases kill. Despite us having milder winters than most, Ireland had more so-called excess winter deaths than any other country in northern Europe in the 33 years after 1980. Many say those deaths were caused by the cold. It is more accurate to say that they were caused by poverty and an inability to heat homes. It is a real mark of disgrace on Governments led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that Ireland has that terrible record. I am receiving reports of elderly people in my constituency who are not turning on their heating in this cold snap. They are terrified by the price increases and they are clearly not convinced that the budget measures will cover the increased costs. I am also receiving reports from working people and people with kids, who use pay-as-you-go meters, who are very concerned that their €200 electricity credit will be used up during this cold snap, and that they will be left in a tricky situation over Christmas. Why does the Government continue to exclude these households from the disconnection moratorium? The State's coffers are overflowing. There was €5 billion in corporation tax receipts in November alone, with a surplus of €12 billion likely. That is three times the financial firepower that has been used on cost-of-living measures.

The Dáil has one week left to run before the Christmas break. Next week could, and should, be used to put in place extra emergency measures to help our people out over the Christmas period. What does the Tánaiste say to that?

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