Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister should be aware that, despite the fact of inflation coming down, the prices are still very high. He is surely aware, because I have told him repeatedly and he would have known, that energy companies are announcing hikes in electricity prices. We have not seen the budget yet, but what the Government has made very clear - it has really dug in on this point - is that there will not be a cost-of-living package. The Government said that clearly and that the energy credits were off the table. I am simply putting it to the Minister at a time when families are struggling. I gave him one instance of one young father from a double-income household that is borrowing from their parents. They are at their limit now. They are not alone. Hundreds of thousands of people and families across the State now are at that limit. I am simply asking the Government, given that it has not managed to stop gauging by the big energy companies, which we will come to again, to give those families and workers the reassurance that there will be energy credits in the forthcoming budget at an adequate level. We have suggested €450.

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