We are now two weeks into a crisis in which Irish households are being hammered by skyrocketing fuel prices. The cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil has spun out of control, yet Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are absent. This is a do-nothing Government that is sitting on its hands and refusing to help while workers, families and motorists are fleeced. People are under massive pressure right here and right now, but the Taoiseach says it is too early to act. He says that the Government will keep the situation under review. My God, I have never heard anything quite so detached or disconnected.

I will do the review right here and now. In many places, petrol is hitting €2 a litre, diesel is hitting €2.17 a litre and home heating oil is close to €900 for half a fill. These are unaffordable, crushing prices. How bad do things have to get before the Government helps? How high do fuel prices have to go before it acts? This is an immediate crisis for working households right across the land. While the Government dithers and delays, we are hearing from people who are in real trouble. These are people afraid to turn on the heat and who cannot afford to fill up their cars. I spoke to one woman who said that she spent an hour just staring at the quote for her home heating oil and trying to figure out how she could pay for it and still have money for the food shop. I also spoke to a father who commutes a long distance to work and who is already struggling to pay the rent. He is now worried how he will keep the car on the road in order that he can get to work. Households are struggling with an unrelenting cost-of-living crisis, and now this rapid increase in fuel prices only makes things far worse.

What is the Government's response? It says that it is monitoring the situation. It seems things are not quite bad enough. The Government is waiting to see. How out of touch can you get? People cannot wait as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael twiddle their thumbs. People need them to act. Up to 65% of what people pay at the pumps goes to the Government in taxes. The Government hauled in an estimated additional €38 million in taxes and levies due to these price hikes in just one week. It is blindingly obvious what it needs to do, namely cut taxes on petrol, diesel and home heating oil. This would immediately bring down prices. The Government could do this today. We will be moving the necessary legislation this afternoon; the Government just needs to implement it. No more excuses, no more beating around the bush and no more delay because it is unacceptable for the Government to let another week go by without intervening to cut fuel prices. Tá teaghlaigh buailte go dona ag arduithe ollmhóra ar phraghsanna an bhreosla. Tá Fianna Fáil agus Fine Gael as láthair, ag diúltú cabhrú leo. Caithfidh an Rialtas gníomhú anois chun praghsanna peitril, díosail agus ola teasa tí a laghdú.

The choice is clear. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can continue to sit back and allow households to be hammered or they can act today to immediately cut soaring fuel prices.

Sinn Féin has put the legislation on the table to make this happen and it is ready to go. All the Government has to do is pick it up and implement it. Do it today and ease some of the pressure that people are under.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an cheist. Sula fhreagraím í, ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas a roinnt le roinnt Éireannaigh óga as éachtaí den scoth ar bhain siad amach ag an deireadh seachtaine agus le déanaí. I thank Deputy McDonald for her question. Before I answer it, I want to acknowledge the very considerable achievement by Irish young people over the weekend. In particular I commend and acknowledge the success and outstanding achievement of Jessie Buckley in winning an Academy Award, which is a remarkable achievement for the young Kerry woman. I also acknowledge the role of the Irish rugby team in winning the Triple Crown.

Deputy McDonald has raised a very important point. At the heart of it, what it reveals is that once a war starts people are unaware as to what the consequences of that war will be. We can now see, however, that the cost of oil has risen quite considerably and a barrel of crude oil today is in the region of over $100 per barrel. That is a very significant consequence and it is impacting consumers not just in Ireland but throughout the world.

As has been indicated by the Taoiseach in the United States, and by the Tánaiste, the Government will respond to this. However, what we are not going to do is engage in a kneejerk response just for the purpose of being seen to do something immediately. Instead, the Government will consider the situation and what has been indicated by the Taoiseach is that most probably we will look at the issue of excise duties for the purpose of cutting them to take pressure off consumers. It is also important to note that any measures that are going to be introduced we hope will be targeted at individuals who need them the most.

I have to say I was very pleased to see that Sinn Féin's finance Minister in Northern Ireland, John O'Dowd, has adopted this position of the Irish Government. I read yesterday that he said when Sinn Féin in government is going to introduce measures to alleviate the cost of fuel in Northern Ireland, they will be targeted at those in most need. Similarly, this will be the case here. They will be targeted measures to ensure that those in most need are the ones who can recover from them.

I noted that in her question Deputy McDonald did not mention the constant narrative of Sinn Féin, which is that we need to cut the carbon tax. I welcome the fact she recognises the importance of the carbon staying as a constant measure to ensure the considerable expenses being met from the carbon tax continue. One thing for certain is that what the oil crisis reveals to us is that we need to ensure we reduce and, hopefully, end our dependency on Middle Eastern oil. The only way we are going to do this is by ensuring that Ireland becomes a fully renewable country in terms of being able to produce our own renewables.

I am not going to give Deputy McDonald an answer as to when measures are going to be introduced by the Irish Government but I can tell her that those deliberations are ongoing, just as they are ongoing in Northern Ireland with Sinn Féin's own Government, where it has the finance Ministry and the Ministry for the economy.

I want Deputy McDonald to be aware, however, that my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, asked the energy security group to meet on 6 March to assess the implications of the conflict in the Middle East and the Gulf region. The group reviewed current supply and pricing conditions across oil, gas and electricity. I know that in recent days the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, wrote to retail electricity and gas suppliers, as well as to fuel suppliers, to emphasise the importance of reducing the exposure for Irish consumers from the price shocks created by geopolitical events.

I assure Deputy McDonald that the Irish Government will act but we are not going to act simply to meet a deadline put in place by her or by others. We will come forward with a considered response. It will involve the Government meeting to discuss the nature of this response. Deputy McDonald will be aware that when there was a war previously, we responded very positively from the point of view of the Irish consumer and we will do so again.

The only actions that the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government has set out so far are proposals to increase taxes. The Minister has reiterated that position again. I do not know whether there is anybody sitting here among us who cannot turn on their heating or cannot fill their car. I do not think that is an experience anybody here on the Government benches or anywhere else has but it is the reality for too many families and for too many working people.

I am simply asking the Minister and we have given the Government the mechanism to do it. We have given it the answer and we have given it the solution. The legislation will be moved this afternoon by Deputy Doherty. The Government simply has to lift this and, as an emergency and necessary measure, cut the taxes on petrol, diesel and home heating oil. It is not a permanent measure but it is a very necessary emergency measure. This policy of mañana and wait and see is a luxury that people in this House might enjoy but it is not a luxury that working families have.

Hear, hear.

The oil companies will put it up again.

I appeal to the Minister today to stop the distraction, end the rhetoric and actually make the move that is necessary.

Hear, hear.

The oil companies will put it up again.

Deputies, please.

Sinn Féin is in government in Northern Ireland. It has money to reduce the cost of fuel in Northern Ireland yet its finance and economy Ministers have done nothing about it as of yet, so it is a bit rich of the Deputy to criticise the Irish Government for not acting fast enough-----

Any chance Fianna Fáil will run a candidate in the North, up in the Six Counties?

-----when her own Government has done nothing in respect of it in Northern Ireland.

Will the Minister answer the question?

People on the Government benches are well aware of the consequences of rising fuel prices.

Are they?

That is why after the invasion of Ukraine-----

Are they?

-----measures were taken by the Irish Government to assist consumers in respect of those rising prices. That is why the Taoiseach indicated when he was in the United States that measures are being considered and it is likely that there will be measures introduced-----

When?

-----to alleviate the pressure upon Irish people at the petrol pump-----

When?

-----and at the heating oil level. We will decide it ourselves. We will not decide it based on when Sinn Féin wants an answer from the Government.

What the people want most today-----

Unlike Sinn Féin, we will give it consideration-----

You are a disgrace.

-----and we will not engage in kneejerk reactions.

Kneejerk?

Come back to us when Sinn Féin has done something in Northern Ireland.

The Minister should talk to the people.