Tá muintir na hÉireann ag tabhairt ar na sráideanna agus tá siad ag éileamh ar an Rialtas beart a dhéanamh le dul i ngleic leis na fadhbanna móra ó thaobh na géarchéime costais mhaireachtála. Má dhéanann an Rialtas praghsanna leictreachais a ghearradh go dtí an leibhéal a bhí siad roimh an ngéarchéim agus iad a choinneáil ag an leibhéal sin le linn an gheimhridh, tabharfaidh sé faoiseamh agus cinnteacht do theaghlaigh a bhfuil eagla orthu ó thaobh arduithe breise le linn an gheimhridh seo.

Last weekend in Cork, 5,000 people marched against the Government’s failure to tackle the soaring cost of living. I have no doubt that thousands more will take to the streets in the capital city of Dublin this Saturday for the very same reason. Many of those who marched in Cork on Saturday had never protested before but they felt that they had no other choice. They told their stories of cutting back on essentials, of going without or of barely just getting by. I want to share some of the stories that they told the media over the past number of days.

Francis said:

The people are being robbed. I'm frightened. I have to do without certain things to pay my electricity bill. I'm dreading the coming winter.

Margaret said:

It's going back to the 1950s. In the 50s, when you got up in the morning, there was only the fire to keep the whole house warm, freezing cold floors and cold running water. It's going back to that time.

Donna asked:

Do we should just buy a load of candles instead of turning on the lights. It is at that point for me, not turning on the immersion and washing in cold water in the middle of winter.

Sheila said:

The cost of electricity, fuel, food is frightening. If you run a car, I really feel for anyone on a State pension, they're afraid. People are living hand to mouth. You can't budget when you don't know what is coming down the road.

“When you don't know what is coming down the road” - that one sentence sums up all of the fears and worries that households are feeling across the State as they try to cope. It is easy to see why people are afraid. It is so simple; just look at what they are facing. Rents, and food and energy prices are going up. The fear is especially real when it comes to the extortionate electricity bills that households face. People are absolutely outraged when they see the scandalous hikes in standing charges by big profiteering energy companies that they are inflicting on households. These hikes are ensuring that people are fleeced even if they do all that they can to cut back on their energy use. The Government needs to act decisively. It needs to cut electricity prices back to pre-crisis level and cap them at that level to help get families through this winter.

This is a simple and straightforward plan to help more than 2 million households reduce their electricity bills at a time it is most needed. Sinn Féin’s plan would give certainty to households this winter. The Minister knows that this is possible. When I raised it with him last week on the floor of the Dáil, I told him it was happening in many other European countries. In the past 48 hours, the Dutch and the Danes have announced price certainty for their citizens. Cutting and capping electricity prices makes sense.

What households need now is clarity. What households are begging for is certainty - certainty that they will be able to make it through the winter. That is what a cap will do - reduce electricity prices to pre-crisis levels and fix them at that right throughout the winter. It is the right choice. It is the choice that a growing number of countries across Europe are making. I ask the Minister again if he will act to cut electricity bills back to the summer of 2021 levels and cap them at that level through the winter until the end of February.

We absolutely acknowledge that these price rises are hitting and hurting our people and businesses across the country and we have to do everything to protect them. We also have to at every time remind our people that the reason for that is the war in Ukraine and the Russian Government’s use of energy of a weapon of war, which is a direct attack on our people. We will continue, as we have done over the past year, to look at the best way to do so.

I do not believe the Sinn Féin plan is the right one. I want to set out why. It is very similar to what the Tory party is looking to do. In fact, Jacob Rees-Mogg this morning, I believe, set out pretty much the same policy for Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin is following a Tory Government approach. I do not agree with it. The first problem in principle is that it would actually benefit the better off, who tend to use more energy, have bigger houses and bigger bills. They would benefit most from the approach the Deputy is suggesting.

Secondly, as in the Tory party approach, it would benefit the energy industries.

That is something that we do not need to do at this time. What we need to do is to apply windfall charges and give that money back to people rather than providing a cap where they get a free pass in any amount after that.

Third, I recommend the Deputy read the article written by Martin Wolf and published in The Irish Times today and originally in the Financial Times earlier in the week. The economics of this are deeply uncertain in terms of the potential cost and length and the effect on the public purse. We have to be careful with that because we need it to provide for social protection, such as the investment in social welfare increases through this difficult time.

The Deputy's plan is simple but it is not the right one. This is not easy. Every country has slightly different circumstances. We have to adopt and look at what the right approach is. I believe our approach is the right one - first and foremost with the likes of the investment in the fuel allowance and other social welfare provisions because we have to protect those on lowest income first and most.

The Deputy is against giving people an energy credit. I argue that it is actually the right approach because the price increases are such that they affect everyone. One could address that with a cap but that would really benefit the better-off. It is better to do the credit, mixed with social welfare contributions.

The third element we need because businesses are going to be hard hit this winter in particular is to look at business supports, which is what we are doing as part of the preparations for the budget package. Again, in doing that it is best to target. There is a particular problem for many small and medium businesses that happen to have high energy use, be that a refrigeration system, a heating system or other power usage. That is down to the local shop, café or hairdresser. There is a variety of businesses that are particularly badly affected so we should target and address that.

That targeted approach in social welfare and how businesses are supported is better than the Tory giveaway that the Deputy is advocating. There has been a lot of debate on this issue in the House in recent days. We need to recognise that the fundamental way to get us out of this is to have ambition in the development of our own renewable power such that we are not held to ransom. We also need to focus on being good on reducing energy use and being energy efficient and flexible.

Lastly, what we are doing is working in a European Union approach because the real story here is that Vladimir Putin is looking to divide Europe. That is one of the key things he is looking to achieve in the coming six to 12 months. We are working on that at the European energy council and the Heads of Government are working at the European Council to provide a united Europe response. That is why we will use European methods towards windfall taxation. It is why we will work with Europe on how we reform the market rather than going with the Tory party in a way that does not serve our needs.

The Minister is actually the Minister who opposed the reforms at European level last October. He opposed them. Sinn Féin has been raising these issues since last year. My colleagues here have been raising them with him. He has Tories on the brain. Maybe that is because he is in bed with the Irish Tories here. The fact is the Government has done the second-least amount in Europe to support households and businesses. Let us look outside of Britain. Yes, people living in Newry or Strabane will have certainty in terms of their bills, but so will people in Austria, France, Croatia, Poland and Romania. In the past 48 hours, it has been announced in the Netherlands. Denmark has announced it. The minister in Slovakia has announced that the Slovakian Government is going to bring in price certainty for customers. Why is that? It is because this is part of the European toolbox. The European Union set out that price certainty is one of the measures that countries could introduce. The Government is asleep, however. It is asleep and does not recognise the pressures that families are under. It does not recognise the pressure that all those individuals whose comments I have relayed on the floor of the Dáil are under or their concern at the sky-rocketing energy prices.

We need two things. We need to bring energy prices back to the level they were at before the crisis and then keep them there for winter. Why does the Minister oppose what Austria and France, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Denmark and the Netherlands have done and what Slovakia is going to do?

Thank you, Deputy. The time is up.

To think this is simple in terms of how one reforms the market or in terms of immediate measures does not serve the Irish public because it is anything but simple. At the energy council, however, we have been centrally involved in working with the Commission. I brought many of the energy ministers to Dublin last week, where we continued to discuss what is the right approach. Every country has slightly different circumstances. The five-point plan presented by the Commission for the immediate response in the next six months is the right one. It is to tackle the inframarginal pricing so that the generators to which the Deputy would give a blank cheque pay some of the money back. We need to take on the fossil fuel industry. It, too, has to make a solidarity contribution. We must recognise that liquidity supports are needed because there is a risk that the energy companies could fall. Critically, we need to be good at energy efficiency and demand management because that is a way to save money for people. By being clever in how we use energy, we can protect people.

Answer the question. Why do you refuse to do what other countries in Europe-----

Please, Deputy, let the Minister answer.

The fifth measure has not been drafted into precise regulations but has our support. In terms of engagement with the energy ministers, the Taoiseach and I-----

The time is up, Minister.

On top of that, other countries are giving price certainty. Go back to sleep. The Government is doing nothing.

It is capping price using our purchasing power at an international level.

Deputy Doherty should not be intervening.

The Minister will not answer the question.

Sorry, the time is up.

The Deputy just does not like the answer.

The Minister is finished.

He is finished alright.

Deputies, please. A little bit of decorum.