I call the leader of the Sinn Féin Party, Deputy McDonald. She has some additional time today because of the new parliamentary arrangements.

That is excellent and is, I am sure, met with joy universally. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his opening statement.

There are many things I might have raised with the Taoiseach today as we return to session. I did not think I would be raising the issue of energy costs, but here we are. This morning, people woke to the news that some 1 million of them are to face higher electricity costs from the beginning of October. This is a result of the 3.4% price hike announced by Electric Ireland. It is important that we all understand the level of anger and stress this news will bring.

There is no doubt that the past six months have been incredibly difficult for people. Many have lost their jobs and many others have seen their household income collapse. It is fair to say that families throughout the land are struggling to make ends meet, with hundreds of thousands of people reliant on State income support and many others working reduced hours. Indeed, many people wonder whether they will ever go back to normal working life again. Those working from home have already seen their energy costs increase as a result. Ordinary people have also faced price hikes by insurance companies and banks. The last thing people can afford now is higher electricity bills as we move into winter.

This move by Electric Ireland will add further financial pressure on families. Sinn Féin believes that a freeze on energy prices during the current Covid-19 pandemic should be introduced. There are big fears among the public that this particular hike will kick-start a deluge of price increases. In blunt terms, that would lead to many families finding it incredibly difficult to heat their homes or to turn on a light during a winter that falls in the middle of a global pandemic. EUROSTAT tells us that consumers in Ireland already pay some of the highest electricity prices in Europe. We know that hundreds of thousands of people live in what is called fuel poverty, which means they struggle or are unable to heat their homes. It should be said also that the Government is planning to introduce a significant hike in the carbon tax in the upcoming budget and that this will put increased pressure on those same families.

One cannot blame people, therefore, for thinking that, even in the grip of a public health emergency, rip-off Ireland is alive and well and that big companies will make sure they get their pound of flesh. People hear the words of solidarity and the slogan that we are all in this together and they see the comforting television adverts from companies telling them not to worry or stress and that their service provider has their back, but then their bills go up again.

I say to the Taoiseach very clearly and explicitly that this hike in energy prices is an ask too far. It goes directly against the fairness and understanding that we urge among the public whom we serve. Rather than hiking prices, energy providers should be working with their customers. They should recognise the circumstances in which we find ourselves and they should be moving towards the freeze in prices and costs to which I referred. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene on this matter. I ask him to direct the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to intervene with the regulator, the utility companies, the network provider and anyone else with whom he and the Government must intervene because this needs to be sorted out.

I fully accept that this news will come as a blow to many consumers in the light of the very significant and severe economic environment within which we are operating. It is not a Government decision. As the Deputy noted at the conclusion of her remarks, the regulators of such utilities and the companies themselves are centre stage in decisions of this kind.

That said, I have no doubt that the Minister and the Government will engage with Electric Ireland on this matter and its overall plans. The Government will work to see how we can continue to alleviate the pressures that many people are under as a result of the global pandemic and the economic fallout from it. The Government intervention to date has, by any yardstick, been unprecedented in terms of endeavouring to help people who are suffering as a result of the pandemic, particularly those who have lost jobs and companies that continue to employ people. Right now, up to 600,000 people are still on the wage subsidy scheme or the pandemic unemployment payment, which is a very significant number. Although certain sectors of the economy have managed to sustain, particularly the knowledge side of the economy, life sciences and technology companies, we know that the hospitality, aviation and other sectors, including the arts and those across the board in tourism, have taken a significant hit.

The collapse of international tourism, for example, has resulted in significant job losses in the services sector, in particular in the hospitality sector, and other areas where wages would not have been too high where people are now on unemployment or on the pandemic payment. In that context, we take the point that any increase in charges negatively affects people. That is why the VAT rate came down yesterday as part of the July stimulus which will be of some help in relation to people on low incomes and in terms of the wider range of charges that people face through their daily lives.

In terms of the forthcoming budget, the Government will look actively at how it can support people on low incomes and people on social protection. The Deputy will be aware that in the context of carbon tax, one of the key pillars of the Government's response is to provide for an avoidance of fuel poverty and to provide from the funds that would be generated generous allowances to enable people to deal with the impact of such attacks on the expenditure that they have to incur in their daily lives.

We have been meeting regularly in relation to the implementation and delivery of a wide range of measures that were contained in the July stimulus programme which we announced less than six weeks ago. It involves an injection of close to €8 billion into the economy. We are doing everything we possibly can to get spending delivered on key projects from housing to education right across the board and through that to create employment and opportunities for people. The almost €400 million that we provided to education has been instrumental in a range of minor works carried out in schools across the country, for example, which has enabled people to get work and to get opportunities to ply their trade. That has been very effective. Our provision for housing voids, for example, involving over 2,000 by the end of the year, is also with a view to giving people work. That said, we will engage with Electric Ireland. We will seek to do everything we possibly can to support people who are facing significant household bills across the board.

The past six months were very difficult for people and the next six months will equally be difficult as we face into maybe the most difficult winter season in living memory. Big asks are being made of businesses, as the Taoiseach says, of workers and of families. In that context, any hike in energy costs or any utility cost is quite simply out of the question. We have had a hard time, but it has been particularly hard for low-paid workers, low-income families, seasonal workers and younger workers. It is in that spirit that I want the Taoiseach not simply to intervene with Electric Ireland, the Regulator and the networks. I want the Taoiseach to put a stop to this proposed hike and to any proposal to increase energy costs in the coming period.

I also ask the Taoiseach to put a stop to the hike in the public service obligation, PSO, levy levied by the Government which is set to increase by more than 100% in the near future. The Taoiseach needs to stop that also because the rhetoric of support for families and workers who are trying to make ends meet in the most difficult of circumstances has to be matched by action. Not alone must we see an end to this proposed increase by Electric Ireland, it needs to be made clear to all other suppliers that hikes in energy costs are not acceptable and will not be allowed happen. Equally, the Government should cancel this proposed hike in the PSO levy and in a concrete way, demonstrate in that support for workers and families - the people who have kept society together and on whom we are relying for social solidarity to get us through the hard times - that the Taoiseach and the entire Government will, in fact, not simply talk but act.

The Government did not make this decision relating to Electric Ireland, as Deputy knows well. It is not correct for the Government to interfere with every regulator come hell or high water. We will do everything we can, as we have, in an historic and unprecedented way, to support people in difficulty. That is the Government's objective as we go through an unprecedented global pandemic. The State intervention measures that have been adopted have been extraordinary, which should be acknowledged. I have outlined some and there are many more. The Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure, along with the leaders of the three parties which make up the Government, constantly monitor the economic impact of the pandemic and how we can live with it for the foreseeable future through to 2021 in health, education and also economic activity. That involves climate change. We do not want to pull back from our commitment to the agenda around climate change. The Deputy may wish us to do so but we have a comprehensive view that part of the economic rejuvenation of the country is in a green new deal. That has to happen. It will create new jobs and opportunities in renewable energy and other areas. We need to get on with that. We cannot keep resiling from it.