Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has provided startling information. At one level we have a big increase in population and a doubling of the number of families living in fuel poverty, yet the Government's response in real figures is such that in 2018 there were 380,000 households in receipt of fuel allowance and in 2022 the figure was 393,000. That is incredible. The number of people in receipt of fuel allowance has stayed practically stationary at a time of the worst fuel and energy crisis in the history of the State. Older people are sitting in the cold during the daytime and lying awake at night wondering if they can pay their bills. Many people are under serious pressure. I know older people who are not getting out of bed until later and going to bed earlier to save on fuel bills. Yet, the Government took its biggest slice of VAT on electricity ever last year. VAT on electricity went up 40% last year; there was a 40% increase in VAT receipts during the biggest energy crisis in the history of the State. The Minister must admit there is something seriously wrong. We have rigid figures of people in receipt of fuel allowance yet we have so many people suffering from fuel poverty.

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