Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)

As the Government well knows, its exclusive retrofit scheme is out of the reach of many, particularly people who are living in energy poverty and all those with homes that were seriously damaged during Storm Éowyn and that remain extremely cold as a result. The Government should replace the current scheme with a tiered and targeted vision that would allow people on middle and low incomes to retrofit their homes and reduce their energy bills.

Since I have was elected to this House, one of the big things that happens every winter is that we discuss the horrific situation of how energy poverty is impacting on our pensioners. I previously related the story of a man who came to me and explained that he was sleeping in his kitchen because it was the only room in the house he could afford to heat. Rightly, there is outrage when that story is told. What changes? Nothing actually changes, and I am sure we will hear similar stories again. Outrage without implementing anything to change things is faux outrage. We can all see through it.

One of the favoured phrases that I hear every week at Leaders' Questions, particularly from An Taoiseach, is that we do not have ownership of compassion. No, we do not. However, the Government has the power to change things and it chooses not to.

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