I thank the Leas Cheann-Comhairle. He will indulge me in welcoming the páistí ó Scoil Náisiúnta Chnoc na gCaiseal in the Kingdom, County Kerry. They are very welcome to the Dáil today to witness proceedings as guests of Deputy Pa Daly. Tá daoine ag labhairt amach le míonna anuas go bhfuil siad ag cuardach cuidithe. Tá cuidiú de dhíth orthu. Tá siad ag rá nach féidir leo a gcuid billí a íoc. Tá oibrithe, teaghlaigh agus pinsinéirí ag déanamh gach rud i gceart ach go fóill tá siad ag titim siar. Maidin inniu, dhearbhaigh an ESRI an rud a bhí ar eolas againn, is é sin go bhfuil an ghéarchéim seo go dona, go forleathan agus ag éirí níos measa. Bhí deacracht ag suas le 30% de theaghlaigh a gcuid billí fuinnimh a íoc. Is í an fhírinne, áfach, ná go bhfuil sé seo i bhfad níos measa mar léiríonn an tuairisc tréimhse ina raibh na creidmheasanna fuinnimh ar fáil agus nuair a bhí costas leictreachais níos ísle. Anois, áfach, tá siad i bhfad níos measa. People have been crying out for months for help. They have been telling the Government that they cannot pay their bills. Workers, families and pensioners are doing everything right and they are still falling behind. This morning, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, confirmed exactly what they had been saying. The crisis is deep, widespread and getting worse. The real picture is even starker, however, because the report reflects a time when energy credits were still in place and electricity costs were lower. The crisis has got much worse since. The Government's response was to withdraw energy credits. At the very moment families needed help most, it took the supports away and made a bad situation worse. That is not just wrong, it is indefensible. This report does not stand alone. On Tuesday, we learned that 317,000 households could not pay their electricity bills. People already falling behind are now being pushed further and further. Yesterday, in another report, the Central Statistics Office, CSO, told us that grocery prices were rising again, piling pressure on already stretched households. Bills are going up while supports are going down. This crisis is so severe that families with two incomes can no longer afford to pay their bills. This is not marginal; it is a social emergency. Report after report, warning after warning, are telling the Government the same thing: the crisis is worsening and the Government is standing idly by. How many warnings is the Government going to ignore before it acts? This is not about statistics on a piece of paper. This is about people's lives. It is about people living in cold homes, parents skipping meals so that their children can eat and older people afraid to turn on the heat in their homes. It is about people rationing heat and cutting back on essentials. It is about living with constant anxiety over the next bill that is going to come through the door. All the while, the State runs multibillion euro surpluses, so there is no excuse whatsoever for inaction. The State has the money but it is a question of why people have never felt under so much pressure. Instead of addressing this, the Government has allowed this crisis to deepen, forcing families into impossible choices every week: heat or food, electricity or rent, keeping the lights on or falling into arrears. This is not inevitable. It is a political choice, and it is the Government's choice. That is why this is happening. Sinn Féin has set out a clear alternative: an emergency budget to cut costs and support households right now. That is what is needed. It includes reinstating the energy credits that the Government withdrew and providing direct, immediate relief for families under severe pressure just to get by. The Tánaiste might not understand this, but out in the real world, people cannot wait for next year's budget or for the Government to get its act together in October. They need the supports now. It is now that bills are rising and that pressure is mounting, so they need the supports now. How many warnings does the Government need and how many stories does it have to hear before it finally acts, introduces an emergency budget and restores energy credits for households that cannot wait any longer?

Sentiment score: -0.07

With respect, the Tánaiste not understand the scale of the crisis in people's homes. Does he really believe that what he has just said here makes a blind bit of difference to any one of the 317,000 families-----

Sentiment score: -0.33

"Wow"? Listen to this. Does that make a blind bit of difference to the 317,000 families that cannot pay their electricity bills now? The Tánaiste is talking about extending the fuel allowance. That ends today. He is talking about stuff that has already happened. They still cannot pay their electricity bills. That is the problem. Doe the Tánaiste know what he is telling them? He is telling them to wait until next year's budget. The bills keep on rolling in, the prices keep going up, the pressure is mounting, the billions of euro keep on rolling into the coffers and the Government will not give Irish citizens the support they need at this point in time. We need an emergency budget. The Government needs to restore the energy credits that it withdrew from those families in last year's budget. It made a massive mistake and has plunged families into crisis - 317,000 families. Just picture that. How many children and adults-----

Sentiment score: -0.06

These families cannot pay their electricity bills. They need support now. What the Tánaiste has said does not cut it for them because he does not understand the scale of the crisis. That is his problem.

Sentiment score: -0.11

I do-----

Sentiment score: 0.00

The Government has had four years to target energy credits.

Sentiment score: 0.56

Let us walk down the street together and talk to ordinary people.

Sentiment score: 0.00

The Tánaiste needs to get out of his bubble. It is no wonder he is going down in the polls. Seriously.

Sentiment score: -0.16