Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are winners and losers in the cost-of-living crisis. The winners are clearly the big corporations. As has been mentioned, the European Central Bank,, ECB, made it clear that corporate profiteering or "greedflation" has been a key driver of inflation. We see profits soaring: ESB, up; Energia, up; and Bord Gáis, up. We learned today of Shell, the biggest oil and gas operator in Europe, made profits of €8.7 billion in the first three months of this years. Despite electricity prices remaining sky high, the windfall profits of these large electricity producers will remain untouched by the Government proposals for the first 11 months of 2022. It will not apply at all during that period.

We also learned today that AIB's income has increased by 70% in the first three months of this year with net interest income to hit €3.3 billion this year alone.

What are the Governments plans, or does it have any plans, to tackle the corporate profiteering that we are seeing across many sectors as households are suffering from the rising costs and pressures as a result of inflation and the reductions of living standards as a result of it?

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