Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

International oil and gas prices have fallen and the Government has spoken about how it would at this stage have expected energy companies to pass that on. There is talk of engagement and ministerial discussions with energy companies, but we are going to have to see action given how under pressure families are. Households have been left to try to find the money to pay unaffordable bills. We have heard the Government's statements – there is a general acceptance that people are being ripped off. We can talk about hedging and so forth, but the fact is that the decrease in prices paid by energy companies, which have been making major profits, is not being passed on. The Government has opposed reform of the energy sector at European level. It has opposed to windfall taxes; it definitely was not in favour of them until the EU made the jump.

People have already experienced sub-zero temperatures in the past while, but there could be a real cold snap in the near future. People are dreading the next bill and are under severe pressure. We need to do something to help them. Even with the credit applied by the Government, households are shocked by their bills. According to a report published by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul last week, a large number of households are unable to heat their homes. The number of people who find themselves in this position has doubled. According to the ESRI, almost 30% of households are now in energy poverty. That number could be greater.

We have heard about bills of €1,000 or €1,200 landing on people who are elderly and vulnerable and we know that Energia, Electric Ireland and all the others have to engage better, but pressure needs to be put on them. I was in shock when one of my constituents told me of her bill of €719.14. It was smaller than other people's bills, but she had only been paying €100 last year. Even a month or two later, it had still only been €200.

We are dealing with crazy factors. We need the Government to act. We need a proper windfall tax. We need to ensure that electricity prices are capped or a brake is put on them, as people are already under severe pressure and we cannot let that increase. This is not good enough. We need action.

See this speech in context