Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister may not like the picture that I presented, but it was based on European Commission stats and facts. We are the most expensive country in which to live in the European Union. I am sure the Minister does not dispute that. We have got the most expensive health costs in the European Union - 82% higher than the European average. In energy costs, we are the second most expensive in the European Union. The Minister should not get me started about housing, rent or indeed mobile phone and communications, where Ireland is again top of the league. We are living in a very expensive State.

One of the biggest rip-offs that is happening at the minute is in terms of energy costs. The Minister talks about the future and over the coming months. It is the same stuff that the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, talked about in March before he made a U-turn and then told everybody to expect higher energy costs right through the winter. These costs should be down by now, despite hedging. We have seen wholesale energy costs reduce since March of last year, and the energy companies have been increasing prices by 72% during that period, yet wholesale energy prices have come down by 50% over the same period. We need an investigation into what is happening to energy costs. We have seen the Central Bank point out very clearly in its quarterly bulletin-----

See this speech in context