Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is an incredible response. People will endure and will get on with it but they hate this idea of "we are all in it together". The truth is that we are not all in it together. People hate a double standard and they hate inequity and unfairness. The price of energy is being hiked, but at the same time energy company profits are going through the roof. Energy companies are reporting record profits, and what do we hear from the Government? We have heard it from the Minister of State, as the latest spokesperson for the Government defending their position, explaining that, actually, they did not pass on the full price of the hikes. There is not a word about the record profits, the obscene profits, they are reporting. We have a Government that resists energy market reform, resists price gaps and resists windfall taxes. There has been a U-turn but there is still a delay in that regard. We have a PSO that is deeply regressive. The Minister of State's party, including the senior Minister, who is not here, has supported and introduced the large energy user subsidy. There is a track record there of treating the energy companies with kid gloves. Has the Minister of State met them? What have they got to say? When will reductions be introduced?

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