Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

I agree with Deputy O'Flynn. I talk to people who say they are a timing belt issue away from not being able to pay their bills. They tell me that if something goes wrong in their lives, they will be on the edge. People are lying awake at night wondering what bills they will be able to pay. That is an incredible situation.

The frustration I have is that the Government is acting like the cost-of-living crisis is nearly over. The Government is the main driver of that crisis. We often hear it blame foreign elements for the crisis. Let us consider fuel and energy in particular. Last year, the Government took €4.1 billion in fuel taxes. It was the biggest take in fuel taxes in the history of the State. The Government took more money than ever before in fuel taxes from people who are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. What does that say about the Government? Last year, the Government took €1 billion in carbon taxes. They are now the second biggest tax on fuel in the country. My real frustration is that TDs on all sides are wringing their hands and saying how difficult and terrible the situation is, but the Government is jacking up the taxes on fuel that are putting people into debt in a cost-of-living crisis. It is not just the case that carbon taxes are where they are at the moment. The Government will raise carbon taxes in budget 2025. It will do so again in 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030. It has already locked in increases in carbon taxes on fuel for the next five years irrespective of whether people will be able to pay them, of where people will be at economically and of whether or not they will be in a cost-of-living crisis. How bananas and dangerous is it for a Government to lock in a tax five years in advance without knowing what condition people will be in at that stage?

The Government is ratcheting up costs during a cost-of-living crisis. That is having an effect on people. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in poverty in this country. One quarter of all domestic gas users are in arrears, which equates to 180,000 families. Some 300,000 people are in electricity arrears. Ireland has the second highest rate of rent and mortgage arrears in the EU. It is incredible that the price of electricity is either the highest or second highest in Europe, depending on which day of the week it is, and yet a semi-State body, the ESB, is enormously profitable. A Government that gives a semi-State body the mandate to make €800 million in profits during a cost-of-living crisis when so many people are in arrears does not give a tuppenny damn about the state people are in.

Actually, there was €700 million made in profit last year. Incredibly, during Storm Éowyn, when people were begging the Government for food and trying to get energy infrastructure back up and running to get their houses reconnected, the ESB’s suggestion was that they should pay for the fixes themselves. This from a semi-State that was making so much money. The Government is talking out of both sides of its mouth, offering tea and sympathy to people while pilfering their pockets with extra taxes every year.

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