It froze again last night, and the cold snap is set to go on through the weekend. The cost of heating a home was high in October and November. In December, it looks like it might go through the roof. Many who have not yet faced the choice of heating or eating will face it now. On Tuesday, a reporter from a Cork radio station spent the day with the local charity, Penny Dinners. He counted 900 food parcels being handed out between 9 a.m. and lunchtime at 12.45 p.m. to people from all walks of life, including students, elderly people, the homeless and workers on their lunch break. EirGrid came close to issuing an amber alert yesterday. There are reports that an alert may not be avoidable in the coming days. This is not so much caused by the cold snap as it is by the energy supply feeding frenzy of the data centres. It is reported that talks took place this week between the Government, ESB networks and EirGrid. I would like the Tánaiste to report to the House on these talks and give an assurance to the country that no household will face power cuts in the week ahead.

According to The Economist magazine, 147,000 more people will die in Europe this winter, if it is an average winter, than would have been the case five years ago because of rising electricity prices. Price increases kill. Despite us having milder winters than most, Ireland had more so-called excess winter deaths than any other country in northern Europe in the 33 years after 1980. Many say those deaths were caused by the cold. It is more accurate to say that they were caused by poverty and an inability to heat homes. It is a real mark of disgrace on Governments led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that Ireland has that terrible record. I am receiving reports of elderly people in my constituency who are not turning on their heating in this cold snap. They are terrified by the price increases and they are clearly not convinced that the budget measures will cover the increased costs. I am also receiving reports from working people and people with kids, who use pay-as-you-go meters, who are very concerned that their €200 electricity credit will be used up during this cold snap, and that they will be left in a tricky situation over Christmas. Why does the Government continue to exclude these households from the disconnection moratorium? The State's coffers are overflowing. There was €5 billion in corporation tax receipts in November alone, with a surplus of €12 billion likely. That is three times the financial firepower that has been used on cost-of-living measures.

The Dáil has one week left to run before the Christmas break. Next week could, and should, be used to put in place extra emergency measures to help our people out over the Christmas period. What does the Tánaiste say to that?

I want to put on the record of the House that the Government has been advised by EirGrid and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, that the system outlook for energy supply for this winter is similar to last winter. There will be periods when the margin between supply and demand will be very tight. We think that is particularly going to be the case over the course of the next week or two because temperatures will be very cold and the wind will not be very strong. For that reason, demand for electricity will be high but generating capacity will be stretched. I want to state clearly that we did come close to an amber alert in the past couple of days. We have not had one since August, although that may well happen. An amber alert means that there is enough electricity available. It is when there is a red alert that we get into a different scenario. That has not happened yet. We cannot guarantee that it is not going to happen. If we get to the point where there is a red alert, and the demand for electricity outstretches the amount we can generate, the first port of call will be to power down the large energy users, which are the data centres that have their own backup electricity. That is not the problem. We are not going to have a situation whereby the first call is on homes, farms or small businesses. That would be way down the line. I want to reassure people that while the likelihood of brownouts or blackouts affecting homes, farms or small businesses cannot be ruled out, they are highly unlikely because in the unlikely event that we are short of power, it will be the large energy users, such as the data centres, that will be instructed to turn on their own generating capacity, which they have and have to have. I want to make that very clear to people and, hopefully, give them some degree of reassurance about power supply over the winter period.

In terms of the cost of electricity, the Government is here to help. People have received the first €200 of their bill in the form of the energy credit. There are two more instalments of that to come between now and the end of the winter. As the Deputy will be aware, we have reduced VAT on electricity and gas to 9%, the lowest it has ever been. We have introduced increases in welfare payments that people will have received over the past couple of weeks, and applications are now open for the fuel allowance. Many more people, particularly older people on low incomes, will qualify for the fuel allowance from January. We reckon 70,000 to 80,000 people will qualify for that. Applications are open, and paper applications will be open shortly. We very much encourage people to apply for that because if they are pensioners, for example, they will get the extra €12 a week from January and they will also potentially qualify for the fuel allowance for the first time. That is a further twenty-something euro a week. We would really encourage people to apply for that. Of course, other interventions are available, such as, for example, exceptional needs payments.

The State is taking steps, but are the steps sufficient? According to bruegel.org, the German state is spending 7.4% of its GDP on shielding households and businesses from the energy crisis; the Irish State is spending 0.9%. In Greece, most households will have 90% of the energy price increases covered by the state. Cold snaps can make or break governments. Forty years ago, a Fine Gael-led Government was doomed in the court of public opinion when a couple of days of snow got the better of it. On Saturday week, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will swap the top jobs and then the Dáil will break for more than a month. What happens in the course of that month if there is a second or third cold snap? What happens if there is not just an amber alert but household power cuts? What happens, in the meantime, if the cost-of-living crisis becomes unbearable for a far greater number of households? No one is saying that the Dáil should meet on Christmas week, but does the Tánaiste agree that in those circumstances a break of a full month is far too long?

I appreciate that the figures the Deputy quoted come from an independent source, but I am not sure if they stack up, because 0.9% of GDP is roughly €3 billion. Everyone knows that the budget package was €11 billion and we did other things last year long before the budget, so I think those figures require further examination. The Deputy is right that Dáil is going into recess for a month. I guarantee him that the Government will not be going into recess for a month. The Government will probably take a one-week break. We will have a Cabinet meeting Christmas week and one in the first week of the new year. The Government will work during that month. We will allow people to take a few days off to spend some time with their families, perhaps five working days, but I can guarantee the Deputy that the Government will meet through the recess, including in Christmas week-----

What about a forum for the Opposition?

-----and first thing in the new year.

During that month, the second instalment of the energy credit will be paid and 70,000 or 80,000 more people will qualify for the fuel allowance. Pensioners and people on welfare will see those increases in their weekly payments during that month while the Dáil is in recess, although the Government will not be.