This do-nothing Government has stood back and watched while fuel and energy prices have spiralled out of control. Families, workers, carers, pensioners and people with disabilities are being squeezed from every angle while this Government refuses to act. People cannot afford to wait until the next budget to find out whether they will once again be left worse off like workers were in this year's budget or forgotten about entirely like so many people with disabilities feel today. A record number of households cannot pay their energy bills. Carers cannot afford to fill their cars to get to work to care for people. -Parents are lying awake at night wondering how they will pay the rent, buy the groceries, cover insurance, fuel their cars and keep the heating on. People with disabilities are not able to charge their vital equipment. What has this Government done about this? Very little. The Minister may pat himself on the back and point to extra fuel allowance payments, but I ask him to speak to those people receiving them and ask them if it is enough. The answer from the people I speak to is clear: it is not enough. The Minister should ask workers and families if they can afford to heat their homes, ask them if they are getting into debt to survive, ask elderly people if they are afraid to switch on the heating and ask parents if they are skipping meals so their children can eat. This is the reality of the Government's failure. What is needed now is action. Sinn Féin has put forward solutions. The Sinn Féin mineral oil tax Bill must be enacted and the planned carbon tax increases must be scrapped. People need relief now, not more excuses or delays, and not more spin. We need the Government to stand with ordinary people. We need elderly and vulnerable people to be able to heat their homes without fear and those with disabilities to able to heat and eat as opposed to having to choose one or the other. We also need to see carers, workers and families able to afford a decent standard of living. The Government should show it is willing to support those who are struggling. It should stop the fact that Ireland has the highest cost of energy and bring it back down to an affordable cost.

Sentiment score: 0.03