Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. This is bonkers. I have sat here and listened. I thank Deputy Doherty for bringing this motion and for the upcoming legislation. We come in here and we talk about having solutions but the Minister is in government and the Government is supposed to serve the people, not profit from their misery as it is at the moment. The Minister heard a while ago about 64% of the price at the pumps being duties. That 64% is the Government's problem, but a lot more than 64% of people are being hit. Instead of helping the people the Government has decided to make an extremely difficult situation even worse. It is talking about increasing the carbon tax again in May, which is another kick in the you-know-what. I will tell the Minister how bad it is. This is something that haunts me and upsets me every time I speak about it. I will tell the Minister how bad it is for people. I have seen a mother in her sitting room, with a young child on a beanbag on 24-hour oxygen, who had to give up work and is crying because she cannot look after her child and cannot go to work but her biggest fear is she cannot keep the money in the pay-as-you-go meter to keep the electricity going to keep the child's oxygen pump going. That is the reality. The Minister can come out with his VAT figures and so on and so forth, but that does not appeal to the people who have been hit directly. The Minister knows the craic with the kerosene. It can be done. We are not talking about wiping out carbon tax. These are measures to make things more affordable for people. I cannot understate how much people are struggling with the rising cost of fuel, but that is on top of a constant cost-of-living crisis the Government never got. Its members gave themselves a pat on the back. I have listened to some of the Government TDs speaking about it and saying we have to do X, Y and Z but at the end of it all I hear is excuses. We know there is a war but the Government still has it in its remit to do the right things, but it is not doing them. I call on all the Cork TDs in here to get a grain of conscience, do the right thing and support this motion and the legislation.

Sentiment score: -0.18