Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I mention an issue that has been raised in this House before, namely, the increase in energy prices that will affect everyone, but in particular 1.2 million households, come September. These announcement was made by Electric Ireland. We will see increases of up to 6.2% in the residential sector. What this means is that householders will be nearly €110 per year less well off. These are hidden taxes for individuals. When energy prices increase, we do not necessarily see an increase in income, or an increase in social welfare payments. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul announced last year that half of the people living in consistent poverty went without heating at some stage last year. Many of us who canvassed during the winter, going door-to-door, will have met many elderly people who go to bed at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. to avoid having to put their heating on in the evenings. This is something we must address. This is especially important as these price rises are coming in in September, a time when parents are under a lot of pressure to pay out for children who are going back to school. There is the cost of uniforms and books and the payments to schools to subvent the very low capitation levels. This is something we need to discuss so I call for a debate on energy prices.

The second issue I would like to raise is unemployment levels. We know unemployment levels are at an all-time low. The National Economic and Social Council is trying to focus on the reason people find it difficult to transition from social welfare benefits to employment. It has noted that unemployment levels remain consistently high in many communities around the country, especially in disadvantaged areas. We need to invite the Minister to the House for a debate, particularly on how people can transition adequately and fairly from being in receipt of State payments to being able to contribute to the workforce.