Táimid i ngéarchéim costais bhreosla anois le trí seachtaine anuas agus ní a dhath déanta ag an Rialtas chun céim shoiléir a ghlacadh go fóill chun praghsanna a ísliú. Níl gníomh amháin déanta ag an Rialtas agus tá sé ag streachailt ón mbrú leanúnach ó Shinn Féin agus an reachtaíocht atá tugtha chun cinn againn. In ainneoin sin, níl a dhath déanta aige go fóill agus tá gnáthdhaoine ag fulaingt dá bharr. Inniu amháin, tá praghas díosal ardaithe 8 cent in aghaidh an lítear agus táthar ag meas go n-ardóidh sé 12 cent eile san oíche amárach. Tá méadú €100 tagtha ar an bpraghas chun umar a líonadh le hola teochta tí inniu agus táthar ag meas go n-ardóidh sé €120 breise amárach. We are now in the third week of the fuel crisis and the Government has still not taken a single concrete step to bring down prices. Let us be clear, the Government has not acted. It has been forced onto the back foot by sustained pressure from Sinn Féin, including through the legislation we brought forward. Despite that, however, the Government has still done nothing. It could have acted at any point but it chose not to. Instead, it waited and dithered and people paid the price. Fuel prices are not standing still. They are skyrocketing. Today alone, the price of diesel has increased by 8 cent per litre and it is projected to rise by a further 12 cent tomorrow night before VAT is even applied. The cost of home heating oil has increased by €100 per fill today, with a projected increase of €120 expected tomorrow night. While costs surge again, what is the Government's message to ordinary people out there? The message is wait until Tuesday. Wait for another meeting. Wait while prices climb. Wait while families fall further behind. We know what delay means in real life. A pensioner told me he is sitting at home with no heating for a week because he cannot afford electricity and heat together; it is one or the other. Another family told us that they have just run out of oil but the price of a minimum order has gone from €280 to €600. Another person with arthritis is living in a damp, mouldy house and needs to keep warm but cannot afford to put on the heating. People are going cold in their own homes. Unbelievably, however, the Government will be pressing ahead with increasing the cost of home heating oil through higher carbon taxes in the next number of weeks. The Tánaiste should not come back with guff about these tax increases being necessary to fund retrofitting because that is simply not true. The money is available. There is a multibillion euro surplus. If the banks were paying the 12.5% tax rate on the €3.6 billion in profits they generated last year that they should be paying instead of an effective rate of 1%, there would be even more resources available. Let us be honest about it. This is not about necessity; it is about political choice. The Government is all over the place on this issue. It is slow to act, reluctant to intervene and telling people to wait while their bills spiral. Will the Government act today to reduce the cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil? Will it scrap the planned home heating oil increases? Will it support Sinn Féin's legislation or is it going to continue to send the same message as costs go out of control? Will it ask people to wait for another meeting, to wait for it to get its act together or to wait for another week and maybe it will do something on Tuesday, Wednesday or whenever?

Sentiment score: -0.01

While the Government dithers, the prices double and what the Tánaiste said is cold comfort to people on the street - people who are going cold at this point in time because they cannot afford to heat their homes. I have put the prices on the record. The Tánaiste talks about waiting another week, into the fourth week of this crisis, and about how the Government will come up with something and maybe reveal it all on Tuesday but people in the here and now are facing these prices. Diesel went up by 8 cent this morning and it is projected to go up by 12 cent tomorrow night. Home heating oil went up €100 this morning when it is already sky high. It has gone up by another €100 and is projected to go up another €120 tomorrow night. This is happening in real time and the Government dithers and thinks people can wait another week while it gets its act together. People cannot wait; they demand action now. There are solutions that can be put forward. The Government can reduce the taxes on petrol, diesel and home heating oil. It can do what we have set out in our legislation. This could happen right here right now. We could bring a financial resolution before the House and tonight we could cut the cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil but the Government refuses to do that. The Tánaiste says the Government hears where people are at but it refuses to act. We have the resources to do this, so why does the Government delay while the price of home heating oil doubles? Why does it dither when people are under so much pressure? Why will it not introduce the measures today for which people the length and breadth of this State are crying out? They are looking for action and leadership from Government and not more meetings, more delay and more dithering.

Sentiment score: -0.09