The Tánaiste has made it very clear, and this is why we do criticise his decision, that he is withdrawing energy supports in this year’s budget. People have been depending or relying on these for the past three years.

Even with these and the other measures, including the fuel allowance, which has been in place for years and whose expansion I welcome, 300,000 households today still cannot pay their electricity bills and nearly 200,000 cannot pay their gas bills. The Government has decided, despite the fact that four companies have come out and said they are increasing their prices by double-digit figures on the week of the budget or slightly before it, to say energy credits are not going to make their way into the budget this year. This is the wrong decision.

I am sure the Tánaiste has been listening to the same people who talk to me – people who are pushed to the pin of their collar and know they are being ripped off. They know the big energy companies are ripping them off but the Government has done nothing about it. It has pushed back against the proposals we made to bring the prices under control. It is the same with insurance, rent and food. It is all talk and no action. The one action the Government can carry out that will support people in the here and now is making sure energy credits play a central part in a cost-of-living package in the budget. We are very clear the measure should be in the form of €450 that will support people right here, right now, because the Government has failed to bring the companies under control regarding the prices they are charging. They are absolutely gouging people at this point in time.

Hear, hear.

I do not want to be too argumentative the first week back but the Sinn Féin proposal to help people with their energy bills was to subsidise these massive energy companies. Its proposal was to give our taxpayers’ money to the energy companies. That was bonkers, in fairness, but I believe Sinn Féin reflected on it and changed its policy. Sinn Féin was not a big fan of the energy credits and I do not believe it committed to them even in its manifesto. It is now jumping on every bandwagon going.

We are going to take action. Energy costs are real, and I do not disagree with the Deputy that the cost of energy in Ireland is too high and a real cause of worry for people. I am telling him and, more important, the people of this country today what we are doing to help those in need. The fuel allowance season will be kicking off on Monday for more people than ever before. That will make a real difference to the Deputy’s constituents and mine, with more benefiting in his county and mine than ever before. I am also telling him about other practical measures we have taken in the here and now, including reducing the rate of VAT on people’s energy bills. That was a practical measure. It was a costly measure but the right thing to do.

I do agree, however, on this: there is a structural issue in relation to our energy market that we need to get on top of. That is why one of the first steps the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, took was to establish the task force on energy affordability. The first thing it was asked to do was look specifically at measures that can be taken for this winter and measures that can inform the Government in advance of the budget. I expect the Minister to receive the report very shortly.