Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)

Families across the country are at breaking point and people are being hammered with sky-high costs every which way they turn, from rent, to food, to fuel and to insurance, and now they will be forced to pay hundreds of euro more on energy bills. We already have the highest energy prices in Europe and families are paying on average €500 more than households anywhere else - money they simply do not have. Tonight, in homes across this country, there are people who are asking themselves how they will keep the lights on and how they will heat their homes this winter, while big energy companies have announced fresh price hikes on top of already punishing bills. No amount of task forces or plans will be of any comfort to a family wondering where they will get 20 quid to put in the electricity meter. They will be of zero comfort.

Let us be clear: this was not and is not inevitable. This is a political choice. The Government has chosen to protect the profits of energy companies and data centres instead of protecting ordinary people. The Government is withdrawing energy credits at a time people need them most. The Government is allowing rampant profiteering to go unchecked all while it ignores Sinn Féin's proposals to strengthen the regulator, cut unfair charges and make sure data centres, not households, pay their fair share. Over 475,000 households are in electricity and gas arrears. Families owe hundreds of euro in arrears that they simply cannot pay. The rate of disconnections is rising sharply. People are being pushed into making impossible choices. Do they heat their homes or do they put food on their tables? The truth is, wholesale prices have fallen, companies continue to gouge, the Government shrugs and families suffer. Sinn Féin would end this rip-off once and for all by providing energy credits of €450 to ease the burden in the interim. We would give the regulator real teeth in order to hold companies to account, ban profiteering and regulate standing charges. We would make those data centres pay their fair share and bring down network costs for families. It is time to stop choosing energy companies over families. It is time to end the rip-off, hold these corporations to account and bring down prices for good.

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