Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I look forward to the statements on the humanitarian support for Ukrainian refugees in the House at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

I also wish to extend my condolences to all who knew David Hill who passed away suddenly while the Oireachtas rugby team was playing the Scottish Parliament team at the weekend. I played with the Oireachtas rugby team only a couple times in Donnybrook before Six Nations games and I know how close all the players are with those in the other parliaments. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has seen a 49% increase in the number of requests for help with energy costs. Recent research by Red C has found 37% of folks have cut back on essential heating and electricity. The backdrop to all this is the most recent Government strategy on energy poverty, according to which, 475,000 households are in or at risk of energy poverty. There were 30 price increase announcements from energy suppliers last year. Bord Gáis is introducing price rises of up to 39% next month. While home heating oil has increased by more €1,000 for 1,000 l this year, it is obvious to everyone there is cost of living crisis. It is our job and that of the Government to do all we can to support workers and families to address the spiralling cost of heat and other energy costs to ensure households are not locked out of any supports or access to them. The Government should cancel the scheduled carbon tax increase in May. These are all actions the Government could take. We should also seek a derogation from the European Commission to temporarily reduce VAT on bills as people are under great financial pressure. Implementing just one of these measures, in addition to the €1 billion to which, I am sure the Deputy Leader will tell me, the Government has already committed, would go some way to reflect the scale of the crisis.