Tá oibrithe agus teaghlaigh go fóill ag dul i ngleic le boilsciú ollmhór praghsanna agus is gá le freagra práinneach ón Rialtas ar an ngéarchéim sa chostas maireachtála. Níl seo níos soiléire ná nuair atáimid ag déileáil le costas fuinnimh. An tseachtain seo caite, d’fhógair Energia ardú praghsanna ar a gcustaiméirí agus inné d’fhógair Electric Ireland, an soláthraí leictreachais is mó sa Stát, go mbeidh siad ag ardú an praghas leictreachais 25% agus an praghas gáis 23%, rud a chuirfidh €518 le billí bliantúla teaghlaigh.

Workers and families continue to contend with massive price inflation and they face an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis that demands an urgent response from the Government. Nowhere is this more evident than in energy costs. Last week, Energia announced a price increase for its customers. That was the fourth price hike announced by Energia in the past year. It came just a week after Bord Gáis Energy announced a massive price increase that will add €775 to yearly household energy bills. Yesterday, Electric Ireland, the largest electricity provider in the State, announced it would be increasing its electricity prices by 23% and gas prices by 25%. That will add €518 to yearly bills of householders who are struggling already. This comes after 35 energy price increases announced last year. However, the only announcements we hear on energy prices are from the providers who are repeatedly hiking up their prices. We hear nothing from the Minister with responsibility for energy. We have heard no measures from him that would reduce the bills of workers and families. Without action, low- and middle-income households will bear the brunt of price hikes that they simply cannot afford.

We all recognise the external factors driving up the wholesale cost of energy and that not all price hikes can be eliminated. However, the Minister can and must do much more. Sinn Féin has already outlined to the Minister what could be done. For five months, we have been calling on the Government to engage with the European Commission to reduce VAT on household energy bills for a period. In response to a parliamentary question, the Minister for Finance has informed me that he only wrote to the Commission on this matter two weeks ago. That is completely unacceptable and the households that are bearing the brunt of this believe that is unacceptable. We need a government that is active and will press the Commission to allow for VAT applied to domestic energy bills to be reduced to zero.

Has the Government now formally sought a derogation for VAT on energy bills from the Commission? Is it the Government’s intention to reduce VAT to zero for a period on domestic energy bills, as we have called on the Government to do for the past five months? When does the Minister expect this process to be concluded?

The Minister knows well that the Government could reduce the cost of home heating oil tonight if it wanted to. Over one third of households use home heating oil to warm their homes. In the north west, the west and Border areas, two thirds of households use home heating oil as the primary source of heating. The Minister could reduce the cost tonight. He could reduce excise duty on home heating oil, which would reduce the cost of a tank fill by about €100. The cost of a fill has increased to €1,600 this month. Many families are simply at breaking point.

I must also ask has the Minister engaged with the ESB? Electric Ireland is a subsidiary of the ESB. The ESB made profits of almost €700 million and paid dividends to the State. Has the Minister engaged with the ESB as an energy provider and generator to ensure those profits are not recorded next year and savings are passed on to consumers?

The war in Ukraine is central to this crisis, obviously, but it started before that. There is a similar cause. From early last year, the Russian Government started to turn off the gas supply to Europe. Europe is at historically low levels in gas storage because of that decision. We saw those high gas prices last year and responded in the budget with increases in social welfare and other provisions to protect people because, like Sinn Féin, we can see this as an existential crisis for the people in our country.

We did not stop there. The Deputy has asked what measures have been put in place. I must list them. Similar to other European countries, and in a similar timely manner, we have introduced a €200 credit to people's bills. It will come in next week. It will not cover the cost increase and will only help cushion the blow, but it was important we had it in place and next week it will be seen in people's bills. We have also reduced excise rates. We have introduced a new 80% grant for people to insulate their homes, which is the best way of responding to the crisis. It is to reduce the costs, reduce the use of fuel and reduce the influence of the Russian Government in our economic affairs by its control of oil and gas supplies and the prices. We have reduced public transport prices for those under 24 by 50% and the general fares for everyone else by 20%. And we will have to do a lot more. We further increased the social welfare provisions because we will have to be targeted in what we do for those households most at risk of fuel poverty.

The Deputy asked whether I talked to the Commission. I have spent the last week travelling, unfortunately, more than anything else. I was in Paris last week at the International Energy Agency meeting, where I had long discussions with the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson. I was in Berlin over the past three days where I spoke to German and other colleagues on exactly how we would manage this crisis, because we have to do it collectively. As Professor John FitzGerald said yesterday, the developments in the coming weeks are uncertain. Last week, Russia threatened to turn off the gas and oil to Europe, which would have led to a further spike in prices that are already beyond any historic comparison. It is five, six or sevenfold of prices a year and a half ago. Professor FitzGerald is correct that we must be careful in monitoring and managing that and introduce measures in a timely manner.

What the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, is doing is very important. During this process, I have found that when I have gone to him or to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, and have said we have a problem, he has responded as I have seen him work during the Covid pandemic and other issues by asking what we can do, being flexible and being willing to think outside the box. He also has the issue that we have to pay for everything in this country: the social welfare, housing and education and not only for the Irish people but also the people to whom we are giving refuge and sanctuary from the bombs dropping in Mariupol, Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine. We have to have the resources to be able to make sure they get the basic welcome and services they need as well as our own people. If we were to promise that we would cut every tax or cover every bill, it would be a false promise because then we would have to tell them the services we would have to cut because we had cut all the tax revenues.

Of course, I have also been speaking to the ESB right through this crisis. I met its representatives in Berlin at the same conference. It plays a vital role because another thing we must do during this time of real challenge is to make sure we are part of a transition away from the fundamental weakness we have, which is our excessive reliance on fossil fuels. The ESB is the public company, owned by us and working for us, which will help us in that transition.

The Minister answered not one of the questions I put to him. He is the Minister with responsibility for energy, yet the only thing we hear is successive energy providers telling customers they are hiking up the prices and there has been nothing from him. There has been deafening silence from the Minister. Bord Gáis Energy is putting €775 on the bill of a household and Electric Ireland some €518. What is the Minister with responsibility for energy saying? Nothing.

I will put the questions again. Has the Government formally sought the derogation to reduce VAT on energy bills? Does the Minister support the reduction of VAT on energy bills down to zero? When will this process be concluded? The ESB has made profits of close to €700 million and paid dividends of more than €100 million to the State.

Its subsidiary, Electric Ireland is the biggest provider of energy in this State and has just told its customers it is ramping up prices with respect to both the unit cost and standing charge. Has the Minister talked to the ESB about ensuring these are reduced as far as possible to support customers? Will the Minister, who has responsibility for energy, please say something that is relevant to the price increases happening to every single household throughout this State?

It would be very easy for me to come in here and say we are going to cut VAT. The reason I mentioned the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, is he would rightly come back and ask how we are going to fund everything we need to do. That is the reality we face in Government that cannot be ignored. We have mounting things we have to pay for.

Carbon taxes.

Thirty seconds. Answer the question.

We will continue to take additional measures. We will have to, and we will do them with the EU. We are talking in the EU - that is what the discussions in Berlin and Paris last week were about-----

Get on with the question.

-----to see what we can change to help reduce our weakness, and they come back and say we will look at the market and all of the structures and not rule anything in or out. The fundamental thing everyone is agreed on, however, and the thing we need to accelerate is the reduction in the use of the fuels-----

Does the Minister support the reduction in VAT?

-----because otherwise-----

Answer the question.

------what we would be doing is giving funds back to Russia. He is spending roughly €500 million per day.

The Minister should answer the question. Does he support the reduction in VAT on energy bills?

First of all, I will not-----

The Minister must conclude.

We will not do the October budget here now. We will look at further additional measures.

We are over time. I thank the Minister. Tá mé ag bogadh ar aghaigh.

Those measures have to be focusing on actual practical ways of-----

I am moving on to the Social Democrats. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I ask for a little co-operation.