Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)

To be honest, and I get this all the time, sometimes I think the Tánaiste forgets that he is the Tánaiste and has been in government since 2011. We now have a situation whereby people are struggling more and more. Why? It is a direct result of the policies and budgets the Government continues to implement. The Tánaiste said during the general election that the Government would do this, that and the other because he knew the policies the Government implemented are making people worse off.

The Government's policies have resulted in 300,000 households being in arrears with their electricity bills. That is happening right now under the watch of the Government. We are going into the winter and people will be struggling even more because the Government has cut any supports. Instead of listing things the Tánaiste thinks other people could do or should have done, this is on him. This crisis is on him. He needs to help those people who are not able to pay their electricity bills and will now have increased electricity bills. People will suffer as a result of the cold winter and the Government is doing absolutely nothing.

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