Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

It is hard to overstate the anger among people about the increases in fuel today. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, a situation where people are in poverty, and where people are in arrears with bills. We are also in a situation where the Government has never taken in as much fuel tax in the history of the State, yet Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party are hiking the cost of petrol and diesel.

Some 670,000 people in this State are living in poverty. A quarter of all domestic gas customers are in arrears. Some 200,000 electricity customers are in arrears. Ireland has the second highest rate of rent and mortgage arrears in the whole of Europe. A reply from the Minister to a parliamentary question received by Aontú shows that the Government has never taken in as much in taxes on home heating oil, gas, electricity, petrol, diesel, and solid fuels. The Government took €294 million more last year in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

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