Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do. I know it comes as a surprise to the Leas-Chathaoirleach. There are a number of topics to cover in the relatively short time I have. I will start with the issue of how we deal with the huge surge in energy costs. Let me be clear. There is no ideal way to deal with this, and I want to acknowledge that straightaway. The difficulty with what the Government is proposing is that the €200 credit will be snaffled up by the energy providers - there is no question about that. The Government is only providing one €200 credit between now and Christmas. There will be children going to bed tonight without any heating because there is complete uncertainty. Nobody knows what that €200 credit is going to be worth, given the ability of energy suppliers to hike prices, and we know that is what they do. It is not effective.What families needed in this budget was certainty. Sinn Féin's proposal to roll over the price cut was the right way to go because pegging prices at a particular amount gives families certainty over this winter. They know what their costs will be, they can plan and they can feel that, if necessary, they can put on the heating. They do not have that certainty under the Government's budget proposal. I acknowledge that there are no easy solutions and there are flaws in both strategies. Certainty is the key issue, however, and the Government has let families down by not delivering that certainty. People do not feel they can afford to pay their home heating bills and credits are always snaffled up. There is a fundamental flaw in the proposal that needs to be acknowledged.

On housing and renters, from where did the Government get the €500 figure for its tax credit? Over the past year, annual rents in Limerick have increased by approximately €1,800. As to the idea that a €500 tax credit will cover anywhere near the cost of the hikes renters have endured, that is clearly not the case. To compound matters, the Government has not done what Sinn Féin has called for, namely, place a ban on rent increases for three years. That would give people certainty instead of facing horrendous hikes. I know landlords in Limerick who will simply decide this evening to increase their rents again and pocket that money. The Government has no means of preventing that without taking the action Sinn Féin has called for.

I always get on well with Senator Casey but to hear him attempt to give a lecture on housing, given Fianna Fáil's track record, is embarrassing. Let me remind him of the facts. The July homeless figures showed there were 10,568 homeless people, including 3,137 children. Since his Government's decision to lift the ban on evictions, homelessness has increased by 25%, child homelessness is up by 43% and family homelessness is up by 30%.