Deputy Pearse Doherty: The Tánaiste has made it very clear, and this is why we do criticise his decision, that he is withdrawing energy supports in this year’s budget. People have been depending or relying on these for the past three years.

Even with these and the other measures, including the fuel allowance, which has been in place for years and whose expansion I welcome, 300,000 households today still cannot pay their electricity bills and nearly 200,000 cannot pay their gas bills. The Government has decided, despite the fact that four companies have come out and said they are increasing their prices by double-digit figures on the week of the budget or slightly before it, to say energy credits are not going to make their way into the budget this year. This is the wrong decision.

I am sure the Tánaiste has been listening to the same people who talk to me – people who are pushed to the pin of their collar and know they are being ripped off. They know the big energy companies are ripping them off but the Government has done nothing about it. It has pushed back against the proposals we made to bring the prices under control. It is the same with insurance, rent and food. It is all talk and no action. The one action the Government can carry out that will support people in the here and now is making sure energy credits play a central part in a cost-of-living package in the budget. We are very clear the measure should be in the form of €450 that will support people right here, right now, because the Government has failed to bring the companies under control regarding the prices they are charging. They are absolutely gouging people at this point in time.

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