I also extend a very warm welcome to our friends from Malawi.

A report by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, yesterday revealed that since March 2022 wholesale electricity costs have fallen by 57%. Yet, electricity bills have soared by 63% for households in that same time. It is very clear, therefore, that these savings are not being passed on to consumers. While big companies’ profits keep rising, workers and families continue to be fleeced.

The real-life impact of these extortionate costs is felt in homes the length and breadth of the State. Last week, my colleague, Deputy Clarke, shared the story of an elderly woman in Laois who is unable to pay for a headstone for her late husband’s grave. Why is this the case? It is because she was hit by a huge energy bill she simply cannot afford. She is distraught and her family found her sitting at home alone in the dark, terrified to turn on the lights for fear of her next bill. That is the reality of what these unaffordable energy costs mean for people.

On 1 March, when challenged about these costs, the Taoiseach stood in this Chamber and said he would take action if companies did not pass on the savings. Let me remind the Taoiseach of his words at that time. He said:

“We expect to see electricity and gas companies reduce their prices over the course of the coming months for businesses and residential customers. It will not just be about polite encouragement.”

We are 12 weeks on and not one energy company has reduced its prices for domestic customers. While everything has changed for big companies, nothing has changed for ordinary people who are still being hit with these unaffordable bills. What will the Taoiseach do beyond polite encouragement and cosy chats, to get these savings passed on to customers? While he fails to act, ordinary people pay the price.

We saw the same approach when it came to spiralling food costs. People are struggling with grocery bills and need help urgently, but what did they get from the Government? They got a meaningless encounter between the Government and food retailers, while prices continue to soar and families suffer. The Taoiseach said a fortnight ago that there is profiteering from food retailers. What has he done to address that? Has he contacted retailers to confront them? Has he sent them the dossier compiled by the Minister about this gouging? All we seem to get is PR stunts and no change, as well as optics and no action.

Tá daoine buailte le costais mhóra mhillteacha agus ní féidir leo níos mó a thógáil. Tháinig laghdú ar chostais mórdhíola fuinnimh i gcomhair na comhlachtaí móra.

Ach tá sé soiléir nach bhfuil na coigiltí seo á gcur ar aghaidh chuig teaghlaigh. Ní mór don Railtas cinntiú go gcuirfear na coigiltí seo ar aghaidh ionas go laghdófar billí na ndaoine anois. Agus ní mór dúinn freisin gealltanais shoiléire a fheiceáil, ní gealltanais doiléire.

People cannot take any more. The time for excuses is over. People need to see costs come down now. My questions to the Taoiseach are as follows. He said there is price gouging by the big food retailers, so what is he doing to end it? Is there price gouging by the energy companies? What will he do about this? He said there would be more than polite encouragement, so what is he doing to confront big companies and ensure that prices come down?

I thank the Deputy. At the outset I acknowledge that electricity prices have gone up a lot in the past year or so. What generally happens is wholesale prices go up first on the international markets. After that companies put up their retail prices for businesses and customers. After the prices on the wholesale markets come down, the reductions at retail level, to customers, businesses and homeowners come after that. What we see is the prices on the wholesale markets going up first, retail prices not going up immediately and not going up by as much. However, as wholesale prices fall, retail prices fall after that because companies buy ahead. They do not just buy on the spot market today and sell that electricity to customers. They buy ahead, six months or a year in advance, and the price they pay is passed on to consumers. That is how the electricity market works.

The Deputy asked what the Government is doing about it and whether the Government is acting. It is acting in five ways. We have had energy credits of €600 for every household to help with electricity bills. We reduced VAT to 9%, which is the lowest VAT rate ever for electricity and gas. We have taken a special dividend from ESB. About €300 million in a dividend has been taken from that State company which we can use to help homes and businesses over the period ahead. Just today at Cabinet we approved the extension of the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, for small businesses until the end of July to help them with their energy costs. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, gave approval to help businesses that use kerosene, particularly those in rural areas that have not had anything yet because they use kerosene rather than gas.

The other thing that is happening is a windfall tax being imposed on the profits of the energy companies. The legislation is being developed at the moment and will apply from September. When it comes to difficult cases and hardship cases, which happen and the Deputy mentioned one earlier, exceptional needs payments are available from the Department of Social Protection. There are hardship funds in place to avoid such scenarios from happening.

In regard to food, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, are taking the lead on this. The powers that exist lie with the Consumer and Competition Protection Commission, CCPC. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is meeting with the CCPC in the next few days. The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, has already met with the retail sectors. The powers are there with the CCPC to carry out an examination to see whether price fixing or anti-competitive behaviour are under way. The Government is very much engaged on those issues in particular.

Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an costas maireachtála an-ard. Tá an costas leictreachais an-ard freisin. Tuigim go bhfuil teaghlaigh, go leor daoine agus gnóthaí faoi bhrú ach tá tacaíocht ar fáil agus tá an Rialtas ag obair maidir leis sin.

I described for the Taoiseach a scenario in which an elderly woman could not put a headstone on her husband's grave. Her family found her sitting in the dark so terrified was she of another high electricity bill. The exceptional needs line the Taoiseach gave me was of absolutely no assistance to her. The Taoiseach has given a list of things the Government has done but the one thing it has not done is to intervene to ensure the big drop in wholesale costs gets passed on speedily to the consumer. I know all about hedging and the process he described to me, but that is no good to that woman. The Taoiseach talks about windfall taxes and high-level initiatives.

At what stage will that woman and every other household see a drop in their bills? That is what people need. So far, the Taoiseach has come up blank on that. He has simply passed the buck. Similarly in terms of the cost of groceries, he describes processes, meetings, the never-never, on tick or mañana, mañana-----

Time is up, Deputy, please.

-----but no actual result for households. What will he do now to effect a drop in energy bills for households, for the lady to whom I referred and others? Equally, what is he doing now to bring costs down at the till in supermarkets?

I think I set that out in my answer-----

You did not.

-----but allow me to set it out again. As regards individual cases, it is difficult and I do not wish to speak to individual cases in the Chamber because I do not know all the facts. I know from my constituency service that on many occasions I have been able to help people to get exceptional needs payments for funeral expenses and that is available. Maybe it is not happening in all cases but it is available and-----

It was refused.

-----is paid out to a lot of people, and rightly so. How is the Government acting? We brought in energy credits, with €600 already taken off the bills of every household in the country. There is the business scheme. We decided today that we are extending it to July and introducing a special scheme for businesses that use kerosene, particularly in rural Ireland. We have reduced the VAT rate to 9%, the lowest VAT rate we have ever had for electricity and gas, and that is helping people with their bills. We have taken a special dividend off ESB of €300 million which we can use to help people with their bills. We have legislation on a windfall tax being developed at the moment. Those are the actions the Government is taking and they are practical actions that are making a difference in people's lives.

They are not having the desired effect.

As regards the retail price of electricity and gas, as the Deputy knows and has described, it is done through hedging. Companies buy electricity and gas ahead of time. They do not buy it today and sell it on to customers today; they buy it in advance.

The woman is sitting in the dark, afraid to turn on her light.

That is why retail prices will fall but there will be a time lag in when they fall.