Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)

People are really worried about their electricity bills. On Monday, the SSE Airtricity price hike is going to kick in. That is hundreds of thousands of households that are going to be hit with a big jump in their bill. That comes, obviously, after the hikes we have seen from three other companies since the budget was announced last week - a budget in which the Government made a terrible decision to cut energy credits and do absolutely nothing for ordinary workers. We now have a situation where this month, more than 1 million households are facing big electricity price hikes. So many are now wondering what in the name of God they are going to do because they simply cannot pay them.

People have known for a long time that they are being ripped off. They are gouged by the energy companies and now they have the proof. The latest report from the International Energy Agency, IEA, is absolutely and utterly damning. It tells us clearly that these big companies are pocketing greater profits as wholesale prices fall, rather than passing them on to hard-pressed families. It will come as no surprise that Irish energy bills are now three times higher than the wholesale cost. In nearly every other EU state, the wholesale price drop is being passed on to customers. Households are getting a break in their bills, but it is just not happening here. Households in Ireland are being taken for a ride, used as cash cows by energy companies to fatten their record profits, and the Tánaiste's Government is sitting back and doing absolutely nothing about it.

Twice this week, the Taoiseach was asked a very simple question: what he will do to stop this rip-off. On both occasions, he could not answer the question. I am here to ask the Tánaiste what he is going to do to stop this energy rip-off? Any Government worth its salt presented with the hard evidence that we have, that its people are being so blatantly ripped off, would be right out in front, ready to take on the energy companies, but Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are happy to just sit back and let households get hammered. It is not just energy, either. It is food, rent, insurance, childcare. Costs are already through the roof and households are now facing the hardest price squeeze in 18 months.

The Tánaiste will have heard from people, as I have. I spoke to two young parents in Galway this week and they are out of their minds with worry. They were just about paying the bills last year, just about getting by, but recently they have had to rely on family members just to cover day-to-day costs. Both of these parents are working and this constant rip-off has left them with that sinking feeling that there is no end in sight. The pressure is so immense. The Government's promise to have their back and to help is broken. It is in tatters. During the general election, on live television, the Tánaiste said, "You told me cost of living is worrying you – that’s why we’ll lower taxes and help you with your bills." Then he turned around and did what he did last week in the budget, with no cost-of-living package, with a tax cut package of over €2.5 billion, but without a single break on income tax for ordinary workers - not a single red cent. What happened? Why did the Tánaiste break his promise? The cost-of-living crisis did not end. Runaway prices did not stop. The pressure on households has only gotten worse. The Tánaiste broke the promise because the election was over. We know it, they know it. The Tánaiste got what he wanted and following through just did not matter to him. We know that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments are always on the side of developers and big landlords, but this Government is increasingly looking like a government for the price gougers, on the side of the big energy companies as they squeeze every penny out of their customers. People are not going to stand for it.

People will not put up with being so blatantly ripped off. They want the Government to do its job. I have asked the Taoiseach twice now and I ask the Tánaiste: what will the Government do to stop this rip-off?

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