I thank Deputies for bringing forward the motion. My constituents pay some of the highest energy costs in Europe. They would love to be able to re-register their households as data centres in order to avail of some of the Government's cheap electricity, but they cannot do so. As a result, they get screwed every single day of the week for the crime of wanting some hot water and a hot or warm home. People with disabilities feel that even more acutely. Some 320,000 household accounts are in arrears with their electricity bills and 180,000 are in arrears with their gas bills. This is the inevitable consequence of the Government withdrawing energy credits, which were a little treat in the run-up to the election and which then disappeared very quickly. Those in arrears are having prepaid meters installed in their homes. The Minister of State should know, but I fear he does not, that prepaid meters have some of the highest rates for electricity. A data centre that is sucking the life out of the grid pays cheap electricity rates. However, a lone parent who lives in Balbriggan, Rush, Lusk, Skerries or anywhere else in my constituency and who gets behind with their bills is punished by being put on a higher rate of electricity. When they cannot pay, a buzzer starts to go off and people know their energy is going to run out. They then have to go to the local Intreo office where they are told to fill out a form and wait. People are being cut off, but this is not recorded as their being disconnected. They do not have the energy to heat their homes. The Minister of State should reflect on the impact of the Government's policies on the people who are at the business end of them.

Sentiment score: -0.03