Go raibh maith agat. I first acknowledge the presence of the British ambassador to Ireland. Cuirim fáilte roimhe. I extend again our profound sympathies on the loss of Queen Elizabeth II for the British people, in particular for Irish unionists for whom she has been a very significant figure of great affinity and affection. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis.

As the Taoiseach knows, workers and families are being hammered by unprecedented surges in energy bills. Households have been hit by more than 50 price hikes since the beginning of last year with more to come. To underscore the seriousness of the situation, a Government memo seen by the media last week states that 1 million households could face annual energy bills of €6,000 if prices keep rising at the current rate. This prediction will have sent a shiver down the spines of people who are already struggling to light and heat their homes.

We now head into the winter. We have darker days and longer nights, and households’ use of energy will increase significantly at a time when prices are through the roof, which will only add to the unbearable pressure people are under. The hard truth is that many households will go under trying to pay these extortionate bills unless the Government makes the right intervention.

There has been much kite-flying from the Government, mainly centred around further energy credits. While energy credits are well and good, they do not provide certainty. They do not protect people from the continuous barrage of hikes. In fact, when the Government introduced its initial energy credit, it was too slow. It was wiped out by further price hikes before it even landed into people’s accounts. Therefore, this is clearly a flawed approach. Households need a Government response that matches the scale of the crisis. I believe the Government must take action to cut electricity prices to pre-crisis levels and apply a cap to freeze them at that level until the end of February of next year. The benefit of this measure is twofold. First, it ensures that electricity bills are more affordable, and, additionally and crucially, it provides households with the certainty they need at these difficult times. It provides certainty that their electricity bills will be brought down, that the relief provided will not be swallowed up by future price hikes and that they can get through the winter months. Cutting electricity bills and freezing them at pre-crisis levels will deliver that assurance. It simply makes sense and yet speaking on radio yesterday, the Taoiseach ruled this out. His colleague, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, echoed this, suggesting that things should simply be worked out at an EU Level. I know that people have heard that line before. They have heard that line used as an alibi for the slow response of the Government to this crisis that left households struggling for months.

Tá sé in am billí leictreachais a ghearradh agus caidhp a chur ar bhillí chun iad a choinneáil ag an méid a bhí siad roimh an ngéarchéim. Thabharfadh sé sin faoiseamh agus cinnteacht do theaghlaigh atá ag streachailt agus thabharfadh sé cosaint dóibh ó arduithe breise sna míonna amach romhainn.

It is all about choices. In the budget, the Government must choose to cut electricity bills and to cap them at pre-crisis levels. It is the right thing to do.

It is the only measure that can provide some level of certainty for households. It would prevent future price hikes and ease the burden on hard-pressed workers and families. By cutting and then capping electricity bills, the Government could choose to protect households. I am asking and urging the Government to make that choice.

In the first instance, on behalf of the Government and on my own behalf, I again would like to convey my deepest sympathy to King Charles, the royal household, the United Kingdom Government and the British people on the loss of their beloved monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. There are many on this island who saw Queen Elizabeth as their queen. We sympathise with them on this very sad moment in history, having witnessed an incredible reign in terms of duration, duty and service.

I will long remember her visit in 2011 - it marked a crucial step in the normalisation of British-Irish relationships - particularly when it culminated in the visit to Cork and during her walkabout at the English Market. In that classic Cork manner, everything eased and calmed, there was a bit of banter with the people and the visit was much more gregarious than perhaps at other locations across the country.

Hear, hear.

It is one that will always endure in the folklore of our city and, indeed, the country at large.

In respect of the energy and cost of living crisis, we are facing the worst global energy crisis since the 1970s at least, and probably worse than that of the 1970s because it also applies to gas and other fuel types, not just oil. Clearly, it emanates from a deadly war-----

Not all of it.

-----in terms of Putin's war on the people of Ukraine and his weaponisation of war. We need to be very clear about that at all times in assessing and in how we respond to this issue. It is having massive consequences for the entirety of Europe, so it makes sense that Ireland respond as part of the wider European Union framework. We are not just relying on EU measures alone, as the Deputy wrongly suggested in remarking on the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath's comments yesterday, but the European Union framework is extremely important.

We import from the United Kingdom three quarters of the natural gas that we use, but half of our electricity is generated using gas, so spiralling gas prices feed through to higher electricity bills. The price for UK natural gas on wholesale markets today is £3.92 per therm. This day two years ago, the price was 32p per therm. We are talking about a more than tenfold increase, more than 1,000%, in international gas prices. Future markets are pointing to even higher prices in the coming months. A therm of gas to be delivered in December will cost £5.74. A February delivery is priced at £5.43. Importantly, non-energy prices are also now surging, with food and other grocery prices rising rapidly and putting severe pressure on household budgets. That is the context.

My second point is that the need to intervene in a very significant manner is not questioned. There is no debate about that - the Government is very clear that we have to intervene, as we did last year with the €2.5 billion package on the cost of living. Just like we did during Covid, the Government will intervene again to protect households and jobs.

The issue that the Deputy has put forward is one of methodology, of mechanism, that is, what is the best way of intervening to protect people. The Deputy's view is, and the Sinn Féin position is, that we should give a blank cheque to energy companies in a kind of singular, almost isolated approach to this crisis, which is now much more than an energy crisis for many households. The Government's view is that, for the time being, we want to get people through the winter to the end of March, not the end of February. We have got to do it using a range of measures in terms of reducing electricity bills but also in giving flexibility to people in the form of payments that we give them through the welfare system, energy credits, cost reductions or investment in public services in the budget, which will also reduce costs for parents and families. There is a range of mechanisms that we can use.

I would ask the Deputy for a fully costed paper from her in terms of her proposals. If she does not mind me saying so, I was less than convinced by her presentation on "Morning Ireland" yesterday. I genuinely would like a fully costed proposal from her in respect of her chosen method of intervention in the electricity price market.

I believe we have to target measures to those who need them the most, but also, universally, people will need support. We need to focus on protecting jobs because, clearly, many jobs could be at risk if enterprises become unviable because of the extraordinary increase in energy costs I have just outlined and that is, obviously, a global phenomenon. However, because of the sound management of the economy, we have resources we can allocate to reduce pressures on people and protect jobs, and that is what we intend to do.

Not for the first time but once again, the Taoiseach is totally and utterly wrong in his response here. Our proposal is about helping families. It is about providing certainty so they can get through what will be very difficult winter months. Our proposals are time-limited. Interventions at European level are, of course, necessary and welcome, but they should not be used again as an excuse for the Government to delay and dither and sit on its hands. In fact, our proposal would work in tandem with the proposed EU measures. Our proposals are similar to price certainty measures that have been introduced elsewhere, for example, in France and Romania. Other emergency measures, as the Taoiseach knows, have been introduced in Spain, Portugal and Italy.

The only blank cheque in question here is the one the Taoiseach is asking families to give to energy companies. His failure to act in the way I have described will allow prices to continue to rise. One thing is absolutely certain: families cannot cope with that and they are depending on the Taoiseach to act definitively. I will ask the Taoiseach again to move to cut electricity bills back to pre-crisis levels and to cap them at that level for the winter months until the end of February. That is what is required here.

The Deputy said her proposals are time-limited. I would say to the Deputy the crisis may not be time-limited. She may need to think beyond the end of February.

So may the Taoiseach.

I am.

We are.

Winter is not-----

That is the point. That is the very point that I am making. The Deputy’s proposal is vague, it is not costed and it is one-dimensional. It does not have the breadth or depth of what the Government is considering in alleviating and reducing pressures on households, protecting jobs, helping out schools with capitation grants, and helping out various State entities that provide services to the public whose energy costs are going through the roof as well. They will also need protection and supports. There is also the non-energy inflation, which is now running at approximately 6% and is a serious worry in terms of the inflationary cycle we are currently going through. That means supports have to be given to people on a broader basis in addition to the supports on the energy front. The Deputy said I was completely wrong. I do not know what she is saying about that-----

I asked the Taoiseach about energy. He will not give people certainty.

-----because we are going to intervene. We are going to reduce the burden of electricity prices on people. However, we are going to do more in the budget and in pay. We have concluded the public service pay talks. We will have tax proposals in the budget as well. We will be reducing costs more broadly.