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

The State is taking steps, but are the steps sufficient? According to bruegel.org, the German state is spending 7.4% of its GDP on shielding households and businesses from the energy crisis; the Irish State is spending 0.9%. In Greece, most households will have 90% of the energy price increases covered by the State. Cold snaps can make or break governments. Forty years ago, a Fine Gael-led Government was doomed in the court of public opinion when a couple of days of snow got the better of it. On Saturday week, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will swap the top jobs and then the Dáil will break for more than a month. What happens in the course of that month if there is a second or third cold snap? What happens if there is not just an amber alert but household power cuts? What happens, in the meantime, if the cost-of-living crisis becomes unbearable for a far greater number of households? No one is saying that the Dáil should meet on Christmas week, but does the Tánaiste agree that in those circumstances a break of a full month is far too long?

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