I am also pleased to co-sponsor these Bills, which are important legislation to end Ireland's energy rip-off. There are 320,000 people in arrears on their electricity bills, which is an enormous jump of 20,000 households in just a month. At the same time, Government has failed and refused to empower the regulator to tackle price-gouging and hold companies accountable for skyrocketing bills. The two Bills being introduced are critical to addressing this and ensuring that the CRU can protect consumers. This is very important legislation, especially because it comes at a time households are being hammered by the cost of living. People in my constituency are reporting huge increases in the cost of home heating oil, a doubling in the cost in many cases, with the price going from under €500 to over €800 for 500 litres of oil, as well as increases in the cost of petrol and diesel. This is another example of companies price-gouging. There is absolutely no doubt about that whatsoever. We have not seen any response from Government other than saying there is price-gouging and they might refer it to the CCPC. On top of that, the Government is going to proceed with carbon tax increases in the next number of weeks, which will add more to household bills. The Government is completely out of touch with the reality of the cost-of-living crisis across the State. It needs to take action, it needs to hold companies accountable, it needs to scrap the carbon tax increases and it must introduce a cost-of-living package without delay.

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