The Government's hands-off approach to the energy crisis is callous and cruel. For weeks now, the Tánaiste has failed to intervene as prices have spiralled. When the Social Democrats asked the Tánaiste to act, he refused. Instead of there being support for people, the Tánaiste has been missing in action.

Individuals, families and businesses do not have the luxury of sitting back and monitoring the situation. For them, the impact has been immediate and unavoidable. Petrol and diesel prices are soaring, home-heating oil has shot up by 80% and gas prices are rocketing. These are not abstract fluctuations on international markets. These are astronomical price increases that ordinary people are being forced to pay today and for many, they represent a tipping point.

People were already struggling to pay sky-high energy costs before these latest price shocks. In December, nearly 320,000 households were in arrears on their electricity bills. That is hundreds of thousands of people all over the country who are already in crisis, for instance, elderly people sitting at home in freezing cold homes because their pensions simply do not stretch far enough, disabled people who are making choices between eating and heating, and parents of young children going into huge debt just to keep a roof over their heads. That was before Trump and Israel launched their illegal war on Iran causing carnage across the whole region and causing economic chaos across the globe.

The Tánaiste has now said the Government is finalising an appropriate intervention to deal with those struggling with the surge in costs but we must wait until the next Cabinet meeting on Tuesday before that is signed off on. There is no clear indication yet of what those measures will be and exactly when they will be implemented. Where is the recognition of the huge pressure people all over the country are facing right now? Where is the urgency? The Tánaiste could act today, if he wanted to. The Tánaiste could clear the Dáil schedule and get this done, as he did when he had to appoint Ministers. The Tánaiste cleared the Dáil schedule to fill up his ranks. Will the Tánaiste not do it today on this?

The Government may not have a plan to help people but the Social Democrats do. We need a targeted €400 energy credit, which can immediately be brought in and provided to 800,000 households who are struggling the most, and we need to cut excise duty to reduce prices and ensure the State is not profiting from this crisis. Can the Tánaiste tell people who are watching at home whether he will adopt our proposals and when exactly is he going to take action?

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. I will address each of his points. First, when this Government acts next week, I believe we will be among the first to act. There certainly are many countries in the European Union who are still pondering what to do. I mentioned only a few moments ago the Italians are looking at what to do for a 20-day period. There is huge volatility. I was in the UK the other day meeting the Chancellor of the Exchequer. From memory, they have announced an intervention of roughly £53 million, which is roughly the equivalent of €5 million in terms of Ireland's population. Lots of countries are trying to work out what is the best thing to do here. I have to be honest with the Deputy that it is not straightforward because we cannot predict with any sense of certainty how long this will go, how deep this will go and even if the conflict ends - we all want to see this conflict end and de-escalated - what the economic hangover from that will be.

I have certainly been very hands on. I have been at meetings of the Eurogroup, ECOFIN, and with the Commission, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Taoiseach and Government colleagues in relation to this as well as with my own economic team in the Department of Finance as we seek to get this right.

I take the point in relation to energy costs already being very high in Ireland. That is one of the reasons we have expanded the fuel allowance to a further 50,000 people. The Deputy mentioned the number of people in energy arrears. They are real numbers. I accept that. However, a real number also is that now 470,000 households, more than ever before, are now getting direct help with their fuel costs. For the first time, 470,000 people receive help. That is real as well. The Deputy asked when. The when is Tuesday. When the Cabinet meets, we will act.

The Deputy asked how quickly will the measures come in. He has to allow me finalise the measures but I said in my comments in the Dáil last night, and I said it again today and I repeat it, that we will attach a premium to measures that can come in quickly. The Deputy has mentioned some measures that could potentially come in quickly.

I have heard the Deputy's idea in relation to the energy credit. I know it is put forward in good faith. Nobody should be dismissing anybody's ideas that are brought forward in good faith because I do not doubt they are. We are all trying to achieve the same thing here. The only point I would make is that I am not sure the speediest or most effective way, being truthful, with the time of the year we are coming into, that is, bringing in temporary energy credits - and I am not saying this to be flippant - in a summer period that would not be in place in a winter period. There are other ways, more quickly, we can alleviate and help. I know this idea is brought forward in good faith. As I say, we all need to approach this with humility, and I certainly do too. However, it would require primary legislation and the likes. There may be quicker ways of helping people and possibly achieving the same aim the Deputy is trying to achieve as well.

We will finalise our proposals. The Deputy asks, why not right now? Literally, only an hour or so ago, the Minister for Transport finished his latest engagement with the hauliers. He is working through some of their proposals. We need to make one intervention here that tries to address the areas most under pressure. Whatever we do should be for a short sharp period of time in the first instance to provide us with the flexibility as a State to further respond to an evolving situation.

In December there were 320,000 households in arrears on their electricity bills. They need a targeted energy credit and the Tánaiste is saying he cannot do it because we are coming into summer. Is that for real? Then the Tánaiste is saying that he cannot predict the future. We are not asking him to predict the future. We are asking him to recognise the reality people are living in now and that things have been getting worse day after day, and he is delaying on this. Does the Tánaiste not recognise the difficulty individuals and households are in, in that they cannot heat their homes, cannot getting get their home-heating oil tank filled and that they are making decisions as to whether they can put the heating on or go to the supermarket to get the groceries? Does the he not recognise that and that every day he delays and every day he makes excuses is pushing people further and further into hardship and poverty? Will measures be brought in on Tuesday? Is the Tánaiste effectively ruling out an energy credit? Do I take that from the Tánaiste's comments?

There will be measures brought in on Tuesday. What will those measures be? Will they help the 320,000 households already in electricity arrears? Will they be targeted? The Tánaiste has often said we need to have targeted measures. Will they be targeted at those who need them most? Will there be measures on the excise tax on petrol and diesel?

I am genuinely not trying to be argumentative or provocative in relation to this because we need to work together on this but I have to say what we do now has an effect on what we can do in the future. The Deputy knows that, I know that and we all know that. The point I am making is, of course, we need to look at what we can do in the here and now. I get that, and that is what we are doing. However, we also need to be conscious, as we stand here in the Dáil in the month of March, of where the global economy could be in the month of September or July. What if the Deputy comes into the House then and says all of a sudden that we are not talking about energy but are talking about this or that. We need to look at this in the round.

The Irish economy approaches this moment of global challenge from a position of relative strength but we have also got to be conscious of leaving ourselves as a country with the flexibility to adapt our response, depending on where the situation goes.

We all hope this de-escalates very quickly, for humanitarian and economic reasons.

The Deputy asked about targeted measures and then made a proposal on excise, which obviously is not targeted. What I would say now is-----

At least the Tánaiste knows that.

I have said very clearly that we should, in the first instance, always target those most in need. I have referenced the fuel allowance as a useful vehicle that we have used in that regard, but I have also made the point that there are real challenges at the pumps. In the past, we have made interventions around excise that have been of assistance to people. We are looking at what we can do in the round across a number of Departments. What we do has to be sustainable, it has to be proportionate and it has to be time-bound, because we have gone down this road before of thinking-----