In the statement from the Minister of State, the Government claps itself on the back for doing something over the last couple of weeks even though it had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing so. Even then, it could not get it right. Unsustainably high energy and fuel prices in this State further compound a pre-existing cost-of-living crisis that has been going on for the last number of years. We keep saying this but, cynically, when the election was over, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael introduced a budget that left people worse off. Most cruelly, people with disabilities were left €1,400 worse off. The Government dropped supports for ordinary workers and families and left people high and dry with growing food bills and rocketing electricity and gas bills. A record number of people are now unable to pay their electricity bills. Almost 320,000 households are in arrears. People are getting hit with unaffordable rents caused by really bad decisions on rental policy. We see higher mortgage payments, childcare fees, college fees and insurance prices. Inflation is higher than the Government projected on budget day. Last week, waste management companies put an energy surcharge on top of the 9% increase they introduced in January. We are being screwed by greedy companies when we pay for our heavily packaged food and now we are being screwed by those who take away that packaging. I remember the slogan from many Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors when I was on Fingal County Council. They would say that you would only pay for what you throw away. That was another lie and another trap as they commodified and privatised waste management. We would be paying through the nose for water charges if Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had got their way. We can be thankful the people stood up to them and their privatisation agenda. Supporting people is the right decision for the economy. Without intervention, we risk having the legs kicked out from under local economies as people cut back spending just to get by. People are wise to the Government and they are seeing through its nonsense and misinformation. On the one hand, the Government says we are the best little country in Europe and have surpluses every year, including surpluses of €9 billion this year and €12 billion last year. On the other hand, it is crying that money does not grow on trees and asking where the money is to be found for an emergency budget. The Government cannot have it both ways. It is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. The Government has plenty of money for bike sheds, however. We saw another grandiose bike shed come to light today. The Government needs to bring in an emergency budget. As has already been said, money must be given back to the workers. In 2016, Fine Gael promised to get rid of the universal social charge, the temporary tax that was brought in to pay the bankers and the bondholders. They got their money; they all got paid off and why? Because the Government screwed the people, the workers, in 2009 and 2010 and right the way through the austerity years. What was temporary became permanent. I know Leo is gone at the moment but that was certainly one of his promises back in the day in 2016. The universal social charge needs to be addressed. Does the Minister of State remember the electricity credits the Government was giving in the past couple of budgets, right up to just before the election and then stopped straight after the election? There is that too. I am asking on behalf of people with disabilities in particular. That was really cruel. The people who need it most are those who have disabilities, and they are €1,400 worse off. Let us talk about people getting to work. What about the ordinary person stuck on the M50, N3 or N4 trying to get into work? They are burning up fuel they are paying much more for at the pumps. Just this week we learned that Ireland has the highest energy rates in Europe. I think it is around 40% higher than most of Europe. Europe Day is coming on Saturday. We had statements on it earlier. Why do we not do what the rest of Europe is doing? Why can we not have the same price for electricity if we are all in this together? We do not because we are not all in it together. We are being screwed. Workers and families in this country are being screwed. It is time to act and act now. We cannot wait until October for the Government to deal with the crisis. People need it now.

Sentiment score: -0.08