Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

The Taoiseach's plan to withdraw energy credits in October's budget is a terrible one. Last week, almost half a million customers were informed by their energy companies that they would be hit with massive electricity bill hikes from next month. Irish households already pay among the highest electricity prices in Europe and now these energy companies squeeze struggling families again. Then along comes the Taoiseach to cancel the energy credits and he is effectively telling households, "Tough, you are on your own." Surely, this latest barrage of electricity price hikes gives him pause for thought. Surely, he can see that people still need the support of these energy credits. He cannot leave households high and dry and must include energy credits in the budget on 7 October.

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