I thank the Social Democrats for introducing this motion here today. We know energy prices have risen by 11% in a single month and 12% over the past year but the Government’s response to that has been nothing short of paralysis. At the same time wholesale energy prices have collapsed. They are 72% lower than their peak in 2022. With the commercial mandate, as sure as night follows day, price gouging is inevitable but the Government has left the regulator toothless. It refused to regulate the standing charges and it refused to rein in the hedging. We have had legislation on this for the past four years but the Government has completely ignored it. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis the energy credits were pulled. That is not a mistake - it is a political choice by this Government. At the same time, the price of petrol and diesel have surged. People, particularly rural areas, who rely on home heating oil have been left to hang out to dry because the price of that home heating oil has doubled. Let us be clear about who has been protected. Households are fleeced but data centres are getting sweetheart deals. Families are paying 6% to 8% more in network charges while the biggest energy users are let off scot-free. That is clearly unfair. On top of this, people who cannot afford renewable alternatives are punished by the regressive carbon tax which, no matter what anyone says, is not working. The cost of home heating oil has spiked by 70% in the past month alone. There is another path. Sinn Féin has laid it out clearly: reintroduce the emergency electricity credits; scrap the carbon tax increase; cut excise on petrol and diesel by 25% a litre at the pumps; remove excise entirely from home heating oil; strengthen the regulator to end the price gouging once and for all; and make data centres page fair share.

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