Many people are in a desperate state. I appeal to the Minister of State to acknowledge that. While I welcome these energy supports, which are badly needed, a lot more needs to be done. With over 300,000 people in energy arrears, there is no question as to the impact the increase in energy costs is having on people. Something needs to be done about the ever-increasing costs of electricity. Since Bord na Móna closed, the cost of electricity has gone up each and every day. Electric Ireland is putting prices up by 8% again. Where is it going to stop? Is there any regulator? Many working people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Those people at home all day on illness payments, disability and pensions need to have a warm home. It is quite cold for this time of the year. Those who are lucky enough to have turf have their fires lighting. Many people cannot afford heating because of the cost of electricity and the cost of the heating oil. Nothing was done for the people who need heating oil. There was nothing done except that the fuel allowance was extended. However, many people are not on fuel allowance and are not entitled to get it. Many farmers and farm contractors are under severe financial pressure to manage day to day costs of fuel and to carry out their work. It is shameful that these reductions in fuel are only temporary. I am worried. The war is not over. We will go on holidays. The Dáil will close down on 16 July, and we will not be back until around 15 September. I am worried about people in that space of time. Will there be any preparation to extend the relief packages in place? I ask the Government to go back to what I asked on 24 March when it forgot about the people on green diesel and heating oil. When green diesel went up 80 cent, the Government offered 3 cent. When green diesel is at €1 per litre the Government should not be claiming tax on anything above that, whether carbon tax, VAT or anything else and they should charge less for it. It is the same at the pumps. Give it back to the people at the pumps. The Government should take the taxes it was getting until the emergency happened and give back the rest of it to the people entitled to get it. The carbon tax increase has been postponed, but what will happen in October? Will they carry on with it? When diesel and petrol were approximately €1.20 per litre and the Government was trying to discourage people from using both we saw that people cannot manage without it. They cannot afford electric cars. They will not go far enough. When it was €1.20 per litre carbon tax was put up. Surely there is no case to be made when it goes up to €1.80 per litre that they should get carbon tax then as well. That is wrong. Many people have not qualified for these packages. I remind the Minister of State of that. Many people are not entitled to the rebate system in place. Packages should last until at least the end of September when we are back here to make sure people can live in between. I saw people protesting on the bypass in Killarney and I was hurt at that time because I saw friends there who would not talk to me. That was the worst part of it all. Maybe the Government thinks those people have forgotten what caused that. I can remind them there was a 94-year-old woman with a flag on the bypass in Killarney. Why was she out? Why were the nurses giving out? Why were the teachers giving out? Why were they all protesting? It was not just farmers and contractors. Many people were feeling the pinch and felt they could not pay the people who mind their children when they go to work and pay for the fuel to go to work and pay for everything else. I ask the Government not to leave those people behind if things are still as bad on 31 July, because that will not be long coming. I am also very concerned about the value taxpayers are getting when we see the pressure they are under every day with the taxes they are paying. We then see that we have no bother in the world giving €40 million to Ukraine in the middle of the crisis. That is on top of all the other money it was given. We borrowed approximately €1.9 billion for a loan for Ukraine. We did not cause the war at all. No Irish person had anything to do with it. Does the Government think it is fair to load the people of Ireland with that kind of bill on top of the €125 million they gave Mr. Zelenskyy when he was here? They gave it to him in his back pocket when he was going home. There is a place called stop. See after your own people first and think of your own people, because they will think of you when you come to the door and will remember what the Government put them through in March and April. They will not forget. It is time to cop on. Do not leave the people behind at the end of July without ensuring they have packages going forward.

Sentiment score: -0.04