I wish to make three points on this. I hope the events of the past week have been a wake-up call for the Government because people across the country are under huge pressure with the rising costs of living. The Social Democrats have put forward real solutions to that, including a targeted €400 energy credit. I urge the Government to implement that as soon as possible. I hope the Government understands that we have to have better energy security, energy independence and move away from imported fossil fuels. The Minister of State talked about people being able to access help from the Department of Social Protection but there are huge barriers to people accessing help. There is so much bureaucracy there and people struggle to access some of the supports he mentioned. The Government needs to look at that and make the supports the Minister of State says are there more accessible and more available for people. The key point is we need a green energy revolution. We need to stop burning imported oil, gas and fracked gas and to move to domestic solar and wind energy. We need to make this as accessible for people as possible, which is why we have put forward solar for all proposals. We have to do this to avoid a climate catastrophe but I do not get a sense of urgency from Government on this. The Minister of State talks about identifying sites by 2027. We are not seeing the urgency that is needed to have the huge transition to a green system of energy produced domestically. While we have these failures we have to support people in the here and now. It is not just farmers and agri contractors as there are people right across society who need support. As health spokesperson for the Social Democrats, I support the call from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation for supports for nurses and midwives working in the community who are using their own cars to travel across communities to support people. These nurses and midwives support people from cradle to grave. I am thinking of public health nurses, community midwives and palliative care nurses who are driving around in their own cars. Some are covering up to 400 km a week to support people and we need to support them with an increased mileage allowance. We call for that in our motion and I call on the Government and the Minister for Health especially to support the nurses who are under particular pressure, as well as other essential workers, with the increased cost. The overall message is I want to see a change of direction here. We have to move to a green economy. We need green energy production here at home and we need to support people in the here and now who are massively struggling with the huge cost of living.

Sentiment score: 0.31