This energy price crisis has been with us now for the guts of a year. The Government has taken a series of responses. In October last, through the budget we increased the fuel allowance, the qualified child allowance, the working family payment and the living allowance, targeted to those most at risk of fuel poverty. Three weeks ago, we went further with the €500 million package in terms of the €200 credit which will help people with their bills. It will not cover the full increase, but it will help this month. We introduced a 20% reduction in public transport fares, which commenced yesterday and is only the first in a series of fare reductions. We also increased again the fuel allowance and are helping with school transport and other costs. Again, that will not cover the full cost of what is happening.

Since then, a war has started on our Continent. Our first thought is in regard to how we can help and address that on the humanitarian side. The underlying root-cause behind some of this is our reliance on imported fossil fuel. The fact that so much money is going from Europe to Russia every day is the fundamental problem that we have to address. We went further yesterday with a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel. In doing that, we said that it would not cover the full cost and that this is a market which is incredibly volatile, beyond precedent. On Tuesday, the wholesale market for diesel in Ireland increased by 22 cent. Yesterday, it decreased by a similar amount. It is yoyoing. It is dramatic. We cannot be exactly certain where it is going to go or where this war will go. We will have to manage it. It will serve nobody if we panic or have a panicked response. We have to be methodical and to keep responding in the same way as we did to Covid by being flexible and quick.

The Government would love to go further, of course we would. The first thing we must do - the Canadian ambassador will know this - is stand for the rule of law. This conflict is ultimately between the rule of international law and democratic constitutional legal systems and those who take a different view of how the world should be run. The rule of law protects us. The rule of law gives us strength, European law especially, in this country. What we did we did within the European law. That was correct. The law may change. Today at the European Council the Taoiseach will be, I am sure, looking to see what more we can do, what further flexibilities and protections and help we can provide, but we will always do it within European law.

On home heating oil, we had a discussion on it three weeks ago. The Deputy and I have different views. The tax on home heating oil is largely carbon tax. That is the form of excise, levied at 8.5 cent per litre, as the Deputy said.

Is Sinn Féin saying we should remove that and get rid of all the carbon tax revenue? As I said three weeks ago, the problem I have with that is that this would, in turn, remove the money we use to give the 100% grants to people's homes to help them cut their bills. That is the choice we must think about. The Sinn Féin policy has been that we should retain the carbon tax but not apply the further increases, but if we do not apply the increase, on the average full fill it might give people an average of 5 cent per day. Five cents per day is not going to protect people or cover the full costs. We must look at other means and measures, and we will. This means efficiency measures as well as price reductions. Ultimately, more than anything else, we must switch from foreign fuels to using our own. I am sure this is something Sinn Féin would surely support. We must switch from oil to wind. In that way we could provide security for our people and cut their bills. That is the change we need to make.

We need to deal with the right here and the right now. Let me explain to the Minister. People are ordering fill up home heating oil now. In Dublin they are being charged €1,840. I have seen other costs of close to €2,000. In January it was €750 or about that. This is more than €1,000 more. These families have not budgeted for that. It is easy for the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues to say "Let us not panic." They will be able to afford this extra cost. Many people out there cannot afford that. When the Minister talks about not wanting to reduce the tax on home heating oil, people are saying, "Do everything you can to help me, help my family, help my business and help the farmers at this time." Do it inside the law. The Minister could have done this. He could have supported the amendments last night where we would have reduced the cost of home heating oil by €100. It is not enough but at least it is what we could do right here, right now.

The Minister's Government should have been asking the European Union for the flexibility of that, right back in September when we were putting it to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe. Like the Minister, Deputy Ryan, he sat on his hands and let this crisis get out of control. We can reduce diesel and petrol prices further. The Minister needs to understand that people are panicking and they need support from the Government. They do not need to be told to slow down. People are telling the Minister to hurry up, get his act together and get these prices down further.

Hear, hear.

That advice to slow down got a lot of criticism yesterday but it was in answer to a straight question about what sort of efficiency measures we could do. It is just a fact. The people in rural Ireland are most exposed. Consider the drive down from Donegal, for example, which is a long distance. If you are on a motorway, which would not be on the Donegal route but elsewhere, going from 120 km/h down to 100 km/h could save about 20% plus. This is real and is the absolute law of physics. That measure and such efficiencies are important. Yes, we will look also at whatever other measures we can do.

I was speaking to the Taoiseach last night in advance of his going to Versailles today for a meeting of the European Council. He will be working with European colleagues to see if we can we go further and do more. There is a certain point, however, where we are actually exposed. That exposure is the reliance on fossil fuels. This is why efficiency also matters and making the switch matters.

People are very upset this morning because they were looking at the forecourts and they see that the price has not changed. The problem is the price was probably set several days ago, and it depends on different petrol stations as to when the excise was applied. The situation is highly volatile and subject to real change. We are absolutely attuned to the difficulties that Irish families are having. This is why we continue to make the measures such as those we have introduced.

There was nothing done on home heating oil.

The Government has decided to do nothing on home heating oil.