I welcome this motion from Sinn Féin and Deputy Doherty. Families across County Donegal have watched in despair as the price of fuel at the pumps has continued to creep up. The cost of home heating oil has completely spiralled out of control. The price of fuel at the pumps has gone up so much that families are paying, at least, between €30 and €50 a week extra just to fill up their cars. For example, it now costs an extra €32 to fill up a 1.6 litre family car compared to last month. It is costing an extra €50 to fill up a 2 litre car compared to last month. Families are now down between €150 and €200 a month on the cost of transport alone. Since last month, however, the price of home heating oil has nearly doubled. On 28 February, 1,000 litres of heating oil in Donegal cost €940. Two days later, that price had risen to €1,015. Today, at lunchtime, the cost of 1,000 litres of home heating oil is €1,650, more than €700 of a difference in just 18 days. It is scandalous and no family can afford it. The average family in County Donegal is out the guts of €1,000 a month. How can families be expected to sustain this? Families in Donegal do not have the option of using public transport. It is basically non-existent. Every price hike is like an attack on them because of where they live. Most houses in the county are older and rely on oil-fired central heating, the price of which is out of control. This means people are choosing between heating and eating. My constituents are bearing the brunt of this situation. It has added an unbearable cost onto the defective concrete families. They keep the heating on every day of the year just to keep the damp down. The houses do not hold the heat. I am asking the Government to intervene, end the rip-off and help the families being squeezed.

Sentiment score: -0.04