We are living in a rip-off republic. The Minister of State started the debate with the pretence that the Government is fighting the costs that people are experiencing at the moment. The truth is that right now, the Government is one of the main causes of expensive prices in Ireland right across the system. Let us consider the ESB, for example. Electricity prices in this country have risen by 57% in the past five years. That is startling. The ESB Group, which is a semi-State operating on the basis of Government policy, made a profit last year of €636 million, at a time people are in trouble in the context of the cost-of-living crisis. One third of a million people are in energy arrears at the moment, and a semi-State is milking the system for that amount. It works out at about €300 per family that the ESB is making in profit. The electricity system is a mess. The wholesale cost of electricity only works out at about 32% of the cost. The transmission and distribution system, which the Government is in charge of, is working at 42% of the cost of the electricity. It is simply not able to do the job it is meant to do. Carbon taxes amount to €1 billion. They did not exist a couple of years ago and, right now, the Government's objective is to increase them in October and every October until 2030. There were some €4.1 billion in taxes last year. In the jaws of a cost-of-living crisis, the Government made more in fuel taxes than ever before. That is absolutely wrong. The cost of diesel has increased by 60% in the past five years and it is also driving up not just the cost of transport but every single food item on our shelves at the moment as well. The price of shopping has gone up 40% since 2021. A trolley that was costing €150 is now costing €225. That is €3,000 extra per family on groceries per year. Items such as chicken breasts are up from €5 to €12.98. Steak is up from €10 to €19.49. There has been a 35% increase in the price of eggs since 2021. Beef is up 32%. That is really hitting families hard and a lot of this is down to price. One of the biggest frustrating elements is that at the end of the July, it is the Government's objective to put the price of diesel up 35 cent a litre and the price of petrol up by 22 cent. That is wrong, and I call on the Minister of State at this stage to say openly and in public that he will not increase petrol and diesel prices for families at a time of sheer pressure in terms of the cost of living. It is really important that he gets that right. The cost of living is bearing down hard on families at the moment. They are suffering at a rate I have never seen before. Some 320,000 families are currently in energy arrears. This is not a luxury good; it is a staple they simply cannot pay for anymore. It is in the gift of the Government to ease the pressure on them by taking the foot off the accelerator on the taxes it is putting on those families at the moment. It is important that the Government reduces the taxes on home heating oil, otherwise families are going to go cold again next winter.

Sentiment score: -0.03