People across the country are waking up to the fact that in moments of real need, the Government again has failed to show up. It is completely unwilling to provide meaningful support where it matters the most. People have been abandoned and left to face the spiralling costs alone. What should have been a moment of leadership, compassion and decisive action instead has been a bluster of hesitation, and the people have suffered. They are met with a Bill that has very little to offer people in their real time of need. The Bill will do nothing for the people struggling in County Donegal. It could have given more but the Government has chosen not to. It has chosen not to help the people and they are already on the brink. They are facing a sudden, unexpected surge in costs that they could never have seen happen. I know the Minister of State is receiving the same kind of calls and emails that I am receiving. People are absolutely desperate and in complete disillusion. They are wondering how they are going to make ends meet, pay their bills, feed their families and heat their homes, which are the basic needs of a human being. People are riddled with anxiety every time a letter comes through the door or the notification goes off in their banking app to tell them that there is less than €1 left in their account. I have had multiples of calls like this from people. My constituents are living basically down to their final pennies because they trying to feed their families and heat their homes. What am I meant to say to them? The Government is taking 2 cent per litre of home heating oil. At the end of the day, it is frustrating. The Government is giving with one hand and when the carbon tax comes in the next month, that will be taken away and we will be faced with the same crisis again, and the Government has offered them no solution. That to them equals no hope and people are in despair and overwhelmed by their circumstances. They cannot control their circumstances because they are trying to meet the basic needs of a human being. Last month in Donegal, 1,000 litres of home heating oil cost €940 while today it costs €1,650, which is a difference of over €700 in 20 days. The Government solution is to take 2 cent off a litre and give them €20 back from the €1,000 fill. It is crazy stuff. With that, it still costs €1,630 to fill a tank, which is still a €690 difference in 20 days. The €20 difference is a drop in the ocean that families cannot survive on, and the Government pretends that this is completely out of its control. Everybody says to the Government, "Look at what is happening in the North." In the North, 500 litres of home heating oil is €633 whereas it is €800 in Donegal. The truth is the Government can do more but it has chosen not to and the people are being abandoned. Households have seen their bills spiralling out of control. We have the highest electricity costs in Europe and now the highest heating costs as well. It is unfortunate and devastating for my constituents to be left in these situations. A mother phoned me today saying that she put €5 worth of fuel in her car to allow her to do three journeys to take her children to school six miles away. That will allow her to do so today, tomorrow and the day after and that is it, until she gets paid next Wednesday. That is what we are down to. People with disabilities cannot afford to travel. They are stuck and isolated because there is no proper public transport to serve them. They are suffering because they still have to heat their houses, as do people who are living alone. The heat goes straight out the door for the owners of homes affected by defective concrete. They have to have the heating on all the time to keep the house warm. As everyone knows, with what is going on up in Donegal, the houses are riddled with damp. This is just putting more of a burden on them. Homeowners face impossible decisions every day. It is not getting any better. The families are working hard to provide a good life for their kids but it is now a question of eat or heat. That is what it has come down to. They feel abandoned. I ask the Minister of State to please consider this because we are going to be back here in a month. There will be mass protests about this. There is no doubt about it. This 2 cent on a litre of fuel shows the Government does not feel what is going on on the ground and does not understand it. Hundreds of thousands of people rely on heating oil. They need help, not 2 cent.

Sentiment score: -0.11