I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward the motion and allowing us the opportunity to speak about the people who have been left behind. The Minister is still not listening. He is certainly not listening to the people in rural Ireland. I will tell him about the plumber I met at the protest on Monday morning in Ballina. These are the same protests that the Government is trying to condemn, and write to Coimisiún na Meán about to tell it to reel them in and to cover this differently, and all of that, in order to control the media in relation to the protesters. That plumber told me that he has been called out time and again each day, when oil tanks in houses are airlocked. The reason they are airlocked is that people have to buy drums of oil for €30, put that in to last a day or two, and then go back and get another drum. He asked how he can charge them a callout fee when they barely have the €30 for the drum of oil to keep the house heated. That is the reality for too many people in rural Ireland. We absolutely feel it. There are over 700,000 people who are reliant on home heating oil. They feel completely left behind because they cannot heat their homes. That is why I support this motion. Regarding the energy credit, how the Government managed to spend €9.4 billion in the last budget and still leave so many people behind, and leave people with disabilities €1,400 a month worse off, is mind-boggling. Then, the Government hits them again. Energy credits have to be given to people, not least the 320,000 people who are already in arrears with their electricity bills. The Minister needs to listen, and he also needs to listen to the home helps.

Sentiment score: 0.09