Some 300,000 people are in arrears on their electricity bill with 187,000 of them in long-term arrears. In October, the Taoiseach spoke about price-gouging by energy companies and since then, all we have seen is price hike after price hike. Staff of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, was on "Morning Ireland" today and advised people to shop around for their bills or to put their electricity on at cheaper times of the day. That is completely tone deaf when we are in a situation where people do not have enough money to turn their heating on to keep their house warm. Will the Taoiseach direct the regulator to conduct an investigation on price-gouging? It is long past time that retail companies were held to account for the extortionate prices they are charging people. We are going into another winter where people are really struggling to pay these bills. Will the Taoiseach do that?

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