On behalf of Sinn Féin, I wish the outgoing leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Kelly, well following his announcement last night that he has resigned his role. I extend my best regards to him and his family.

I welcome Ms Linda Ervine, who will be in the Seanad today to speak on Seachtain na Gaeilge. We extend her a fáilte mór from this House and acknowledge the great work she has done on the Irish language in east Belfast. Her work is well known throughout the Thirty-two Counties and beyond.

I wish to record once again our absolute condemnation of the actions relating to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to extend our solidarity to the Ukrainian people at this time. I welcome the unanimous agreement of the Dáil last night to pass a motion condemning Russia's actions and supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine. I welcome the significant and severe economic sanctions that have been put in place by the international community as part of the efforts to get Vladimir Putin to realise the futility of his actions. Those sanctions are working. One can see the impact they have had already on the Russian monetary system. I hope this unprecedented diplomatic response will open up the possibility of a resolution to the crisis. As with any conflict, I believe the way out of this is through politics and dialogue.

Undoubtedly, the severe sanctions are going to impact on ordinary citizens across Europe and further afield. The Taoiseach has acknowledged that this will be the case. The price of oil and gas on international markets is on the rise once again. This follows the massive price rises that are already putting major pressure on households throughout the State and contributing to the massive increase in the cost of living. That is particularly the case in the west of Ireland in counties such as Mayo, where half of the homes use heating oil as their main home heating fuel and, because of the lack of public transport, people have no choice but to use an ever-increasing proportion of their low incomes to pay for petrol and diesel. One hospital appointment in Galway or Dublin can take up a full week's income for those already struggling to survive.

What is the EU plan to help alleviate the impact the economic sanctions will have on ordinary people? Have discussions in this regard already begun? What is on the table to help households here and across Europe to negate the worst impacts of energy price increases on workers and families? People want something to be done immediately. They need to feel it in their pockets and in their household incomes. They are already struggling. I acknowledge the measures that have been introduced, but some of them, even in higher education, will not kick in until September. The months between now and September are going to be long and arduous for many households throughout the State.

I welcome Deputy Conway-Walsh to the leader's seat. It is always a pleasure to have the opportunity to engage with another member of Sinn Féin, particularly one from Erris, a part of the country I know well. It is always a pleasure to have a disagreement or an agreement on occasion with people from that part of the world.

The situation in Ukraine is, as people will appreciate, unprecedented. We came through the shock of a pandemic that nobody could have predicted and thought we were going to enter a period of relative stability and normality. Vladimir Putin, by his actions, has upended all of that. We are now facing another shock in terms of prices, particularly for energy. There will be a meeting of senior Ministers this afternoon and there will be an opportunity to study a number of things, including how we can assist Ukraine, in both our political response and our humanitarian response, and Ukrainians who may come here. There will also be a discussion on what else we need to do or are able to do to help households, businesses and farmers that are going to affected by the sanctions and the economic disruption caused by the crisis in Ukraine.

Ireland does not have a lot of direct trade with Ukraine, Belarus or Russia, but there will be indirect effects. Even though the coal in Moneypoint now comes from Colombia, not Russia, and our gas supplies do not come from Russia, the impact of Russian gas being slowed or potentially even being shut off will cause price rises and is already doing so. We have seen the prices of oil, petrol, diesel and fertiliser rise significantly in the past couple of weeks.

In terms of what we need to do, first, we must implement the actions the Government has already announced. That includes the €200 being deducted from people's electricity bills. People will see that in the next couple of weeks and certainly by the end of April. The additional money for the most vulnerable households, the extra €125 in the fuel allowance, is being paid at present. We will have to give consideration to any further actions we may need to take. However, it must be borne in mind that the underlying cost of energy, coal, petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and home heating oil is not something we control. That is rising more and more and the portion of that which is taxation is falling as a consequence - not the raw amount but the portion that is taxation. We will see what we can do in that context. There will be some co-ordination at European level as well. Discussions in that regard are under way.

We need to be updated on those discussions. There has to be an immediate response, or one that is as immediate as possible. There are growing conversations in many EU countries about ending imports of Russian oil and gas into the future. Has the Government considered what the State can do to secure its energy supply if this comes to pass? We were told all the time that the Corrib gas project would secure our energy supply. That has not been the case, although a proportion is supplied from the Corrib field. We must do something more and something immediate. People are really suffering. I welcome the fact that the Tánaiste will be visiting Castlebar tomorrow. He will be in a town where people are suffering as a result of rent increases and many other cost-of-living increases they are experiencing at present. They are looking to the Government for solutions, answers and help at this extremely difficult time.

We believe that our energy supplies are secure, or as secure as they can be in the current context. We used Russian coal to run the power station at Moneypoint. That has now been switched over to Colombian coal. We are not dependent on Russia or Ukraine for gas. Approximately one quarter or one third of our gas comes from the Corrib - it is our own gas - and the rest comes from the UK. The latter is gas from the North Sea and liquified natural gas, LNG, brought through terminals in the UK. We are confident at this stage that we will not face any disruption in the supply of gas, petrol, diesel or electricity. The long-term security issue will be resolved by renewable generation and hydrogen, but that is many years away.

We are more concerned about energy prices. Everybody driving by a forecourt this morning will have seen the price of petrol and diesel, with the psychological €2 per litre being seen in some stations. We have already seen increases in our gas and electricity bills. Unfortunately, because of the events in Ukraine, we are likely to see further rises over the next couple of weeks. The Government will respond. It has responded already in terms of the fuel allowance and the household discount for electricity bills. We are looking at other ways of responding, but we would be dishonest if we did not say to people and businesses that the reasons for the increases in price are largely outside of our control. The proportion of energy prices covered by taxation is falling, but we need to look at excise and see if we might do something there.