The temporary reduction in excise duty will offer some overdue relief at the pumps, and the extension of the fuel allowance will give some respite to pensioners and people receiving social welfare, but it will not be enough. A figure of €152 misses the mark completely. What the Government is doing here is leaving hundreds of thousands of low-income workers who are facing astronomical increases, particularly in home heating oil, out of those targeted measures. The Government knows well that before Iran was attacked, there were 320,000 households in arrears on their electricity bills before Trump and Israel started this war. People need to be able to heat their homes tonight, they need hot water and they need to be able to get by day by day. The measures the Government is proposing fall well short of that. Since the budget when it withdrew the universal energy credits, which we never supported because we always said they should be targeted, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach have said hundreds of times that targeted measures are needed. The extension of the fuel allowance is targeted but it is €152. What about low-paid workers and what about everyone who is entitled to the fuel allowance? Does the Government really think that a figure of €152 will get them out of the hole they are in? If you are reliant on home heating oil and have seen the price almost double, €152 will not cut it and the Government knows that. The Tánaiste can use the word "targeted" all he wants - he has said it hundreds of times - but we put forward proposals for targeted measures that were fully costed and constructive, like the energy credit for 800,000 households at a cost of €362 million, but the Government did not implement them. Why does it not implement a targeted measure that would really help people who need it most? The Tánaiste uses the word "targeted" all the time but, as Deputy Nash said, we must look at what the Government's most recent budget actually did. It reduced the incomes of the poorest households in Ireland by more than 4%. That is what the budget did. It drove more older people into poverty, with the number increasing from 13% to 19%. These are not my figures; those are the figures from the Parliamentary Budget Office, which independently assesses what this Government has done. At the same time, it reduced the incomes of disabled people by up to €1,400. If someone is €1,400 down, a €152 extension in the fuel allowance is better than nothing but it does not begin to meet the gap that is there and the urgent need for support that people have. We put forward our proposal for a targeted energy credit, which we costed. I urge the Tánaiste to look at that. It is a sound and economically sustainable approach. That kind of approach will work, regardless of what happens over the coming weeks and months, and will provide the space for additional supports to be put in place as and when they are needed. The Tánaiste talks about achieving and accelerating energy independence. Fine Gael has been in government since 2011. It is now 2026. Sadly for this country and for people who are finding it very hard to meet their bills, the Tánaiste has completely and utterly missed the opportunity we have had. Ireland could be a superpower when it comes to renewable energy. We should be a superpower when it comes to renewable energy. Instead, we are one of the countries in Europe with the highest electricity bills despite these massive resources at our disposal. We should be leading in terms of clean energy. We should not be a laggard on it. Successive Fianna Fáil- and Fine Gael-led Governments have had the resources to be able to invest in this, so why have they not done it? Look at the example of Spain and what they have achieved. Look at what they have done in Spain and Portugal, for example, where wholesale electricity prices are at €60 to €70 per megawatt-hour, far below what we are at. Look at what Spain has done just since 2019, for example, where they have doubled their wind and solar capacity. They have added over 40 GW, cutting gas's influence on electricity prices by 75%. That is what they have done since 2019. We have more potential than they do, certainly in terms of wind, so why have we not done the same? While the Tánaiste has been in government, why have we not done it? If we had done that, we would not be in this situation of dependence that we are in at present. Spain has some of the lowest power prices in Europe. What do they have that we do not have such that they are able to do that? Of course, we should be doing this. Ireland has enough wind to power the island and enough money to make it happen. That is a fact. What we are missing is the political leadership to get that job done. While Spain and Portugal have insulated their people from this global crisis in terms of energy prices, the Government has left Irish households exposed to the actions and the chaos being created by the whims of Trump. We should and could be an energy independent electro-state, but instead we are not in that situation. We need proper action and leadership on that. I appeal to the Tánaiste to introduce a targeted energy credit. It makes sense, it is affordable and it can be done. It would make a big difference to people on low incomes, including low-paid workers who are not eligible for the fuel allowance. That would really lift people out of the difficulty they are in. The Government has failed to do that and it could do that.

Sentiment score: 0.04