Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

D'fhógair an Coimisiún Eorpach inné gurb é an Stát seo an stát is daoire san Aontas Eorpach. De réir mar a leanann oibrithe agus teaghlaigh ag streachailt leis an ghéarchéim costais maireachtála, leanann an Rialtas ag teip ar ghnáthdhaoine na tíre seo.

Yesterday, the European Commission published figures confirming for workers and families what they have known for a long time, namely, that we live in a rip-off Republic. The Commission confirmed that this State is the most expensive place to live in the European Union. It is 46% higher than the European average. Not only this, but the gap has been growing since 2015.

On energy costs, we are the second most expensive in the European Union. We have the most expensive health costs in the EU, which are a staggering 82% above the European average. This is what households are dealing with when they continue to struggle under the biggest cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

Figures that were released earlier this week show that Irish living standards have fallen further behind other European countries, continuing a downward trend since Fine Gael took power nearly a decade ago. In fact, we are now at the bottom half of the European league table. This is the economic performance of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, while workers and families are being fleeced by the highest prices in Europe and getting less and less for their hard-earned money. They work hard but the economy is not working for them.

That is the Government's legacy. That is the Government's failure. It exposes the growing gap between the economic success story that Government Ministers like to tell and the financial reality facing hard-working and hard-pressed families and households. The Government’s failure to convert the economic gains that they celebrate into better living standards for our people is clear. The housing crisis was created and made worse by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, there is a worsening state of our health service and there are sky-high living costs.

These failures continue to hit the pockets and the quality of life of workers and families. This drift is now growing. It is a growing threat to our economy. It is impacting, as I am sure the Minister has heard, the ability of firms to hire and retain workers. It is influencing their investment decisions for the future. Nowhere is the rip-off that workers and families face more evident than in the extortionate energy bills they have now been paying for months.

Despite a drastic fall in wholesale prices, energy bills remain sky high. In the 12 months to March, consumer prices rose by 72%. During the same period, wholesale energy prices decreased by 50%. Indeed, yesterday, the Central Bank found that while electricity prices in Europe have fallen dramatically in recent months, Irish prices remain stubbornly high. This is a cause of real concern.

I sent a request to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, on behalf of Sinn Féin calling on it to undertake an intensive supervision of the prices that energy companies are charging their customers. This is key to ensuring that workers and families are not being fleeced, that there is fairness in the market and ultimately that prices come down for workers, families and business customers.

On 1 March, when the Taoiseach was challenged about these costs, he said he would take action if the companies did not pass on savings. Last week, he made a complete U-turn and he said that energy prices will remain high this coming winter. The Minister’s time for sitting on his hands is over. Families, customers and businesses are being fleeced. Will the Minister support Sinn Féin's call for the energy regulator to take this matter seriously and carry out a proper, intrusive investigation into the prices that Irish customers are being charged? Has the Government called in the energy companies to discuss this matter with them?

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