Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I do not know what question the Minister answered but he did not answer my question. Putin does not set the VAT rates in this State. Putin does not regulate the vulture funds in this State. In those two aspects, he is irrelevant to the conversation. The electricity credit is less than all the increases in all the fuel and energy taxes in the last year. The Government has taken more money out of people's pockets than it has given back with the electricity credit.

On mortgages, the vulture funds bought them at bargain basement prices. They should have a lower cost base but they are putting families to the pins of their collars. They are pushing many families into arrears. Maybe that is what they want; maybe they want to crystalise their investments now when prices are so high. The Government said people would be protected. Yesterday I asked the Governor of the Central Bank what levers the Central Bank had to protect families being charged 7% by vulture funds. He said they have none. That is the key issue. What will the Government do to help those families? Will it regulate those vulture funds and maybe even put a super-normal profit tax on those vulture funds in the same way that has been done to energy companies? What will it do about VAT and the protection of mortgage holders?

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