The stories on the front pages of the newspapers this morning were not about ordinary people dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. No, there are no front pages given to the pensioner at home struggling to keep their home warm, the disabled person taking the now hours-long trip to a hospital for dialysis because they can no longer afford to do it at home, the single mother skipping meals to feed her children or the dad tearing his hair out as he sees rent drain his family's bank account yet again. These stories are nowhere to be seen today. They are drowned out by the lamentations of a Minister of State who presided over all of it, who voted for all of it, and at the last moment resigned from the Government to get his moment on the front page of every newspaper in the country. People say they are cynical about politics. Too often, they have every right to be. A budget in 2026 cutting disabled people's incomes by €1,400 was not enough for the resignation of a Minister of State. A repeated refusal to introduce an emergency payment for disabled people was not enough to lose that former Minister of State's vote. Nor was it enough for the Government to adjust its spending by 1 cent. The repeated callousness and hypocrisy of this Government extended to its failures t introduce targeted measures in its package yesterday. There are no energy credits for the most vulnerable. There is no strong progress on domestic renewable energy. There are no plans that reverse poverty, only plans that deepen it. Of the €750 million fuel packages announced in the last four weeks by this Government, less than 10% was targeted at the most vulnerable, with a €150 extension of the fuel allowance in a time when electricity and gas bills were climbing by hundreds of euro. That is why we have brought forward this motion - to bring targeted relief to ordinary people across the country, including a targeted €400 energy credit for families earning less than €70,000 and helping people cut their energy costs with increased solar grants. The Government has repeatedly said it wants to target the most vulnerable, yet it has been lacking. It has repeatedly said it cannot do everything, yet it pulled out all the stops yesterday. It has repeatedly ignored the pleas of 320,000 households in energy bill arrears, of disability organisations and of the most impoverished. What should I say to those people now, Minister? What should I tell them about their Government? What should I tell them about their representatives? Should they buy a tractor and blockade a port and then they might be listened to? Should they join with a despicable far-right rhetoric to be taken seriously? Should they threaten a rising in Kerry to take the scalp of a Minister of State? When will this Government listen to the most in need in our society? When will it act for them? I urge the House to support this motion to alleviate energy costs for the people who most need it.

Sentiment score: -0.11