Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. If we cast our minds back to the colder months of last year and early this year, in November, December and January, the issue on most of our lips was energy poverty and the number of families being cast into it. Two in every five households were experiencing energy poverty at that time. If we turn then to today, while the weather has changed and the dependence on heating homes is lower, the debts accrued by those families have not gone away. They had to borrow to pay for energy. They went into debt with energy suppliers. I am glad the Minister of State mentioned the additional needs payment scheme. It is important and it has been a lifeline for many families but many of the people who have been cast into poverty are probably not even aware this fund exists.

That it relies upon the discretion of an officer and a person having to go in may be an issue. We must work to provide a degree of amnesty for families who had to borrow to avoid going without.

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