I want to start by thanking my colleague, Deputy Ciarán Ahern, for bringing forward this very important motion and for all of the work he is doing on this issue. Ireland has one of the highest electricity costs in Europe. Eurostat recently reported that prices in Ireland were nearly 40% above the EU average. It seems that every other week an energy provider is upping its prices once again. The Government cannot continue to sit on its hands while this happens. Many workers are just surviving, going from bill to bill, while those hardest hit like older people, carers and people with disabilities are afraid to turn on the lights or heating. Over 500,000 households cannot afford to pay their gas or electricity bills. We need a targeted energy credit to help workers and families that are struggling with the high cost of energy. The Labour Party has continued to call for this because it would provide immediate relief to those struggling, but the Government continues to turn its back on workers. Workers, older people, carers and people with disabilities must be prioritised when we talk about targeted measures. We need to get greater investment in supports and grants that help these households retrofit their homes, so that they are protected from ongoing price shocks like we are seeing at the moment. We need to look at fully funded grants for these households. I want to give the Minister of State the example of an older man who called into my office this week. He is trying to access the SEAI's one-stop-shop to retrofit his home, which is in a very poor condition. He was quoted €850 for a survey and consultation, with a grant available of €350, meaning that he would have to come up with €500 of his own money just to start this process. That is simply not money that people like the person who came to my office have lying around. I acknowledge that the Government has made increases in these grants. The warmer homes scheme grant is one of the best grants for those who qualify, but waiting an average of two years for works on many homes, and particularly for those who need it most, is just not sustainable. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis where every euro is being counted. People do not have the money to make these upgrades to their homes, and the Government needs to do more. Workers and families are facing higher bills because the Government supports data centres more than working people. We need to put an immediate stop to the building of data centres, which are using more than 20% of Ireland's electricity and are on track to be largest electricity users in this country. We cannot let this continue. We cannot become the data centre capital of Europe. The Labour Party's motion calls for the Government to put workers first, tackle the high energy bills they are facing and provide fully funded grants so that households can retrofit their homes. The Government must take this issue seriously and finally show up for workers.

Sentiment score: 0.14