I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that:

— Irish households continue to face severe financial strain in the face of high and rising electricity prices;

— the average monthly wholesale electricity prices in Ireland have increased by 9.6 per cent in August, 2026 alone, and are up by 77 per cent year-on-year;

— retail electricity prices in Ireland were already the highest in Europe, with households paying an average of €480 per year more than the European Union (EU) average;

— retail electricity prices continue to rise rapidly, with a succession of eight providers having announced price increases in recent weeks, some of these increases in the double digits;

— a 1,000-litre fill of home heating oil now costs approximately €1,600, up more than 60 per cent in just the past year alone;

— according to the Central Statistics Office, the cost of household energy in Ireland has risen by a whopping 70 per cent in the past five years; and

— 323,559 Irish households were in electricity arrears in June according to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, amounting to around one in seven households;

further notes that:

— the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) recorded a pre-tax profit of €445.6 million for the first half of 2026, up from €351.6 million in the same period last year;

— it has recently been confirmed that the ESB Chief Executive Officer could see his salary hiked by a total of €161,000 by 2028, with a €90,000 increase to €410,000 per year having already been sanctioned;

— Energia recorded a pre-tax profit of €70 million for the second quarter of 2026, up 25 per cent year-on-year;

— Bord Gáis Energy recorded pre-tax profits of €50 million for the first six months of this year; and

— these kinds of bumper profits, and gold-plated salaries, are indicative of surging profits in the sector;

recognises that wholesale electricity prices are dictated largely by the cost of gas, meaning that energy companies that produce electricity from other sources, including renewables, can experience significant windfall gains when gas prices are high, as they are at present;

furthermore, notes that:

— the Government legislated in 2023, to introduce a temporary solidarity contribution and a cap on market revenues to clamp down on windfall gains in the energy sector;

— those measures, despite being in place for a relatively short period of time, raised a combined €456 million; and

— the Minister for Finance, has suggested that the State should wait for a joint EU approach to windfall taxes on the excess profits of energy companies, but Portugal has already moved ahead and introduced its own windfall tax; and

calls on the Government to:

— legislate to reintroduce both a market revenue cap and a temporary solidarity contribution, putting them on an independent statutory footing under Irish law that extends their operation for the period from 1st March, 2026 to 31st December, 2027; and

— use funds raised from taxing the windfall gains on energy companies to provide emergency relief to struggling individuals and families by immediately introducing a €400 energy credit, targeted at households earning up to €70,000.

For years, we have been told that the cost-of-living crisis, high energy bills and spiralling households costs are events beyond our control. First, it was the invasion of Ukraine and now it is the war with Iran. Every time there is an international crisis, Irish households are expected to absorb the shock. While we all know the Government did not cause those crises, neither did families all across this country. They did not cause the war in Ukraine or the war with Iran. Yet, time and again, they are asked to pay the price. Meanwhile, however, energy companies have continued to record substantial profits.

This motion is about more than energy and taxation policy; it is about protecting households that have been exposed to global shock after global shock while the Government has failed to insulate them. This motion is also about fairness because if there is anything Irish people know, it is how to be fair. They know when things are wrong. If households are expected to shoulder the cost of every international crisis, then energy companies cannot be allowed to pocket windfall gains while families fall further behind. We have the power to act to stop this happening, and we need to use that power. The Social Democrats are proposing that the Government protect households by introducing a windfall tax on energy companies' profits. This was done before at an EU level in 2022 following the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the energy price shocks that followed. It is crucial that we act again – this time at a national level - to protect families against the current energy price crisis.

It is clear the Minister has failed to protect families so far. Ireland has the highest household electricity prices in Europe. They are a massive €480 more per year than the EU average. According to the Central Statistics Office, the cost of household energy in Ireland has risen by 70% since 2021 and roughly one in seven households is in arrears on its electricity bills. Meanwhile, energy companies continue to record substantial profits. ESB Networks recorded a pre-tax profit of €445 million for the first half of this year, which is €100 million more compared with this time last year. The CEO of ESB Networks could see his salary increase by a total of €161,000 by 2028. Energia recorded a pre-tax profit of €70 million for the second quarter of 2026 alone, while Bord Gáis Energy recorded a pre-tax of profit of €50 million for the first six months of this year. All the while, customers are facing even more electricity price hikes ahead of this winter. That is the stark contrast at the heart of this debate.

I know the position of the Government is to wait for a whole-of-EU approach to this where all EU states work in tandem, but that is not going to happen. The Government wants us to wait while electricity prices go up, more families fall into arrears, energy companies continue to record enormous profits and executives receive salary increases worth more than what many workers earn in an entire year. However, the Government can no longer hide behind the skirts of the EU. Only yesterday, the EU Commissioner for energy, Dan Jørgensen, made it clear that there would be no EU-wide windfall tax and that countries need to do this on a national basis. This is possible and the EU will support countries to do it. In fact, Portugal has already gone ahead and done it. We need to follow suit urgently.

The Government can no longer use the EU as an excuse. Families are facing bills today, this month and this winter. That is why the Social Democrats are calling for action now, rather than at some undefined point in the future. We are proposing that excess windfall profits be taxed and that the proceeds be returned directly to households through a targeted €400 energy credit for low- and middle-income families. The previous solidarity clause contribution and market revenue cap that was put in place raised approximately €450 million, so the legislative mechanism and precedent exist, as does the need. The only thing missing is political will. When one in seven households is already in electricity arrears, the question is not whether we can afford to act but, rather, how much longer families can afford to wait. When families are struggling to keep the lights on while energy companies are recording bumper profits from circumstances entirely outside of their control, the Government cannot simply shrug its shoulders and say, "That is the market". It has a responsibility to intervene and protect households, and that is exactly what this motion seeks to do. If it was right to bring in an energy windfall tax in 2022, it is right to do so again now. We ask the Government to move on it.

I thank my colleague, Deputy Whitmore, for all her work on this to date. We are about to face into another winter where families will once again have to make incredibly difficult decisions about what they can afford. They will have to decide whether to heat their homes, put enough food on the table, cover school costs or pay electricity bills. For far too many people, it will come down to a stark choice between whether to heat or eat. All the while, energy companies are seeing profits soar and CEOs are seeing enormous pay increases. In the first half of this year alone, as Deputy Whitmore mentioned, ESB Networks made €445 million in pre-tax profits. That is incredible. That is why we are proposing the windfall tax on excess energy profits, with the money raised used to fund a €400 energy credit for low-to-middle income households. These are households that are being squeezed the hardest by the cost-of-living crisis that we are all experiencing. They are hit with price increase after price increase right across the board, while energy companies continue to record these massive profits. We know the scale of the pressure people are under. One in every eight households is in arrears on its electricity bills, and we know this burden is particularly acute in low- and middle-income communities, such as those in my constituency of Dublin Central.

There is something fundamentally unfair about families struggling to keep on top of their bills while energy companies make enormous profits and CEOs see increases in their pay. Emergency supports alone are not enough, however. We also need to focus on bringing energy costs down permanently, which the Government has not focused on. For far too long, the Government has moved from one crisis to another without addressing the underlying problems. A failure to plan for energy price shocks means those with the least ability to absorb higher costs end up paying the higher price.

The Government has already recognised the principle behind what we are proposing. In 2023, it legislated for a windfall tax due to the war in Ukraine. If the principle was right then, why is it wrong now? Why should families facing another difficult winter be asked to shoulder the cost while extraordinary profits in the energy sector are left untouched? While it is true that the Government cannot control every international event that causes energy prices to rise, it absolutely can decide who carries the burden when those prices rise. Allowing households to absorb those higher bills while extraordinary profits go untouched is not inevitable; it is a political choice made by the Government.

The energy crisis and the wider cost-of-living crisis are squeezing families from every direction. I see that in my constituency where some of the most deprived areas in the whole country are located. I deal with awful cases every single day, including those involving elderly people staring into another winter having to decide whether to heat or eat.

The €400 energy credit targeted at low-to-middle income households would make a real and immediate difference to people who are struggling. Our proposal is straightforward: take a portion of the extraordinary profits generated during this energy crisis and put money back in the pockets of the people and households that have been hit the hardest. More fundamentally, a windfall tax is about fairness. It ensures the burden of an energy crisis does not continuously fall on ordinary households while exceptional profits are made elsewhere. Families should not have to choose between heating their homes, feeding their children or paying their bills. They should not be asked to do this while energy companies are recording extraordinary profits.

I commend my colleague, Deputy Whitmore, on this motion, as well as on her broader work on the cost of living and a just transition. One statistic in this motion should stop us in our tracks, namely, that 323,559 households were in electricity arrears at the end of June, which is one in every seven households. Prices are now climbing again. Wholesale electricity prices rose almost 77% in the year to August, including a 9.6% jump in August alone. People have been absorbing these increases for years. There comes a point where there simply is not another €20 or €30 to find. This pressure is also not evenly shared. The latest CSO figures show that people severely limited in their daily activities by a health problem were more than three times more likely to be unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm.

More than 17% of those households reported greater difficulty making ends meet. For many disabled people, higher energy use is far from discretionary. Extra heating and lighting can be part of the cost of disability. You cannot tell somebody who needs a warmer home because of disability or ill health simply to turn down the thermostat. There is also a clear climate and energy security argument, which is tied in with affordability in this motion. Ireland imported 78% of all the energy we used last year. Almost 93% of those imports were fossil fuels, including over 82% of our gas. When international gas markets go haywire, Irish households get hit. We saw it after Russia invaded Ukraine and we are seeing huge volatility again now. Reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels is climate action but it is also a protection against the next energy price shock. We need far more indigenous renewable energy alongside the grid storage and interconnection needed to use it properly.

I am not suggesting that every euro of profit made by an energy company is illegitimate. ESB has an enormous programme of infrastructure investment ahead of it, which is essential to the transition. Windfall profits are different. The Government already accepted that principle. In 2023, it introduced a solidarity contribution on exceptional fossil fuel profits and a cap on the market revenues of certain electricity generators because soaring gas prices were creating gains completely out of line with normal market conditions. Those mechanisms are effective so it is difficult to explain to a family falling behind on their electricity bill why, when exceptional market conditions are again producing exceptional gains, Government should simply stand back and wait, particularly when the ESB reported €445.6 million in pre-tax profit for the first six months of this year, with its chief executive salary being increased to €410,000. This motion proposes using revenue from renewed windfall measures to provide a targeted €400 credit to households earning up to €70,000. That is immediate relief.

The longer-term answer has to be bigger than another credit every time international fossil fuel markets explode. We need an energy system that produces more of our own clean power, wastes less energy through poorly-insulated homes and leaves families far less exposed to the price of imported gas. That is climate policy, it is energy security and increasingly it is basic cost-of-living policy.

I thank my colleague, Deputy Jennifer Whitmore, for bringing forward this important and timely motion. Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats have consistently raised the enormous pressure that energy costs are placing on households. This motion puts forward a practical solution that the Government always says we do not do but we are putting forward a solution that is simple. When energy companies are making extraordinary profits, some of the people who are struggling the most need to know where those profits are going and it needs to come back to the people who are sitting at their tables and cannot afford to pay these bills. More than 323,000 electricity accounts are in arrears. Wholesale electricity prices increased by 9.6% in August alone and are 77% higher than they were a year ago. Irish households are paying some of the highest electricity bills in Europe.

At the same time, we are seeing extraordinary profits. The ESB recorded pre-tax profits of €445.6 million in just the first six months of this year. Energia recorded pre-tax profits of €70 million in the second quarter, while Bord Gáis Energy recorded €50 million in pre-tax profits for the first half of this year. There is something fundamentally wrong when families are sitting around their kitchen tables trying to work out which bill they are going to pay because they cannot pay all of them and when the electricity bill comes in, that sometimes is the one that has to wait. We know that a windfall tax can work because we have done it already. The previous temporary solidarity contribution and the market revenue cap raised a combined €456 million. Our proposal would reintroduce those measures and ring-fence the proceeds to provide a targeted €400 energy credit to households with incomes below €70,000.

It is really important to say that it is targeted. Targeted supports are what are needed in this country, not universal for every single person and for those who can already afford to pay their electricity bills. As education spokesperson, I want to put this in the context of what families are already facing. Barnardos found that more than half of parents are worried about meeting the back-to-school costs this year. Some secondary school families are spending over €1,100 getting a child ready for school, and 57% of secondary school parents are facing a bill for digital devices with an average cost of €447. When a child finishes school and might go to third level, those costs do not disappear. Research highlighted earlier this year that the estimated spending for a young person in third level who is living out of the family home is €16,000 a year. If the young person is staying at home, it is €8,000. That is a lot of money.

Families do not experience any of these costs in isolation. A family could have one child in primary school, one in secondary and one in college. They are paying for uniforms, devices, transport, food and accommodation for those students. They are also in their own home paying for rent or mortgage. They are doing the weekly shop, the cost of which has also gone up. They are trying to fill their car with petrol or diesel, which has gone up too. The electricity bill comes through the door, if they do not get it online, of course, since I appreciate it is not the 1980s. All of these bills are not luxuries. Education is not a luxury. Heating your home is not a luxury. Turning on the lights is not a luxury.

People are working, they are budgeting, and they are cutting back. They are doing everything that has been asked of them and yet for far too many families in this country, the numbers simply do not add up anymore. I hear that in my clinics in Dublin South-Central. The Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, and I share the constituency, and I am sure she hears it as well when she is canvassing. Parents are exhausted from constantly trying to make choices about what they can afford this week and what will have to wait until next week. I raised this in the House before. In April, I told the Government that affordability was the single biggest issue being raised with me in Dublin South-Central. People are telling me that they cannot afford their groceries, their rent, and their energy costs. We are now heading into winter, and those pressures have not disappeared. The Government needs to get a grip on the cost of living. It cannot continue to stand back while household bills rise. The energy companies simultaneously record enormous profits. It should not fall on the families. We should not have to wait and tell families they have to wait until everything is sorted out and place the blame elsewhere. We have an opportunity to help families in need now. I urge the Government to support this motion. Introduce a windfall tax on excess energy profits and ensure that the money raised goes directly towards households which need it most.

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:"

notes that the Government:

— remains deeply concerned about the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on energy prices;

— is acutely aware of the impact on households and businesses of the recent increases in the cost of energy, and is actively monitoring the current geopolitical situation and its impact on costs;

— has taken significant action to help households and businesses with the cost of fuel and energy by introducing one of the most comprehensive support packages in the European Union (EU); and

— affirms that energy affordability is a priority, with the Energy Affordability Action Plan to be submitted to Government in the coming weeks and consideration ongoing of supports for household; and

further notes that:

— the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has caused international wholesale gas prices to increase which has a significant knock-on impact on retail electricity prices;

— supplier hedging strategies have and are continuing to help cushion households from the full volatility in international wholesale energy markets;

— price setting by electricity suppliers, including standing charges is a commercial and operational matter for the companies concerned and each such company has its own different approach to pricing decisions over time, in accordance with factors such as, their overall company strategic direction and costs such as, staffing, tax, and infrastructure;

— the Government understands that any price increase can be a challenge for households and businesses;

— for that reason, the Government has taken action to help households and businesses with the cost of fuel and energy;

— extensions to the package of temporary fuel supports have brought the total cost of these measures to over €1.4 billion and are helping to reduce the cost burden at the petrol pump;

— successive budgets have provided targeted support to help households with energy costs;

— in Budget 2026, key measures included an extension until 2030 of the 9 per cent Value-Added-Tax rate currently applied to gas and electricity bills, enhanced social protection payments, including an increase to the Fuel Allowance weekly rate and an expansion in the eligibility rules, and a record allocation of €640 million for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) retrofit schemes;

— at the same time, additional retrofitting supports have been rolled out to further help households, capital expenditure of over €2 billion has delivered over 287,000 home energy upgrades from 2019 to the end of August 2026, including over 39,500 fully funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty under the Warmer Homes Scheme;

— in January this year, we expanded and reformed retrofitting schemes to ensure more homeowners can receive grants, the new measures include, increased attic and wall insulation supports, an increased grant of €12,500 for heat pump installation, and new grants for windows and doors;

— almost 89,000 applications have been processed to the end of August 2026, an increase of 116 per cent on the same period last year;

— this year to the end of August, 2026, almost 42,000 homes have been upgraded through SEAI schemes, including over 6,800 homes at risk of energy poverty under the Warmer Homes Scheme;

— the latest Eurostat report, (comparing electricity prices across the EU), outlines that Ireland had the fifth highest for household electricity prices in the second half of 2025, when adjusted to take account of the 'Purchasing Power Standard' (i.e. practical affordability – taking account of household income);

— the four biggest energy retailers have confirmed that hardship funds and focused measures are in place for any customers in difficulty;

— switching energy supplier or plan could save the average electricity and gas customers up to €700 and €400 (respectively) annually;

— protections are in place for customers experiencing difficulties in paying their bills and households struggling with their bill, are strongly encouraged to engage with their supplier;

— the Department of Social Protection can also provide support through the Additional Needs Payment to help households meet expenses, including difficulties with fuel bills;

— the Government has also established the National Energy Affordability Taskforce (NEAT) to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses, while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability;

— the NEAT has noted a wide array of interventions, including those such as a market's revenue cap and/or solidarity contribution, which in a previous form were based on EU-wide regulations and decisions and will continue to consider all potential interventions and developments in this regard;

— the Government will continue to monitor and assess the situation in relation to energy costs;

— the NEAT continues to work intensively on an Energy Affordability Action Plan to be submitted to Government in the coming weeks; and

— the Government will also make a range of relevant decisions as part of Budget 2027.".

I speak on behalf of the Government on the Social Democrats' motion calling for the introduction of a market revenue cap and a temporary solidarity contribution on the excess profits of energy companies. The Government proposes to reject this motion and amend it. The conflict in the Middle East and in Ukraine have caused significant disruption to the global energy markets that we all know. The Government recognises the pressure that resulting high energy prices are placing on Irish consumers and businesses. We are actively monitoring the current geopolitical situation and its impact on costs to households and businesses. The Government understands that any price increase can be a challenge for households and businesses. As a result, we have been proactive and introduced a series of measures to reduce fuel prices. Further measures are under consideration by the national energy affordability task force and as part of the budgetary process. Specifically on fuel, the package of Government support measures, which now totals over €1.4 billion, is helping to reduce the cost burden at the petrol pump and assist key sectors such as agriculture and haulage that are critical to keeping our economy moving.

A range of measures in budget 2026 also supported households with energy costs, including an extension until 2030 of the 9% VAT rate currently applied to gas and electricity bills and enhanced social protection payments, including an increase to the fuel allowance rate and an expansion in the eligibility, as well as a €400 income tax disregard for households involved in micro-generation, which was extended for a further three years until the end of 2028.

The best way of insulating our economy and society from fuel price shocks is to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. That is why we are investing record amounts in retrofitting, both through part- and fully-funded schemes. Budget 2026 provided a record allocation of €640 million for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's residential and community grant schemes, allowing us to target 73,000 home energy upgrades this year alone. In January this year, we expanded and reformed retrofitting schemes to ensure more homeowners can receive grants. The new measures included increased attic and wall insulation supports, an increased grant of €12,500 for heat pump installation and new grants for windows and doors. Simple upgrades like attic insulation, cavity wall or external wall insulation can reduce heating bills by up to €230 annually. A full home retrofit can lead to savings of €750 to €1,120 per year on energy costs.

Almost 89,000 applications have been processed to the end of August 2026.

As of yesterday, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Government have also approved an expanded range of grants for people, including a new €2,000 boiler scrappage grant, a new grant for battery storage and expanded access to certain measures for warmer home eligibility applicants and those in rental accommodation scheme, RAS, tenancies. These measures are aimed at making it easier and more accessible for people to reduce their energy bills. This compares with 41,100 applications received by the end of August last year. This is a 111% increase year on year and follows changes to the schemes the Minister introduced earlier this year. Capital expenditure of more than €2 billion delivered more than 287,000 home energy upgrades between 2019 and August 2026, including more than 39,500 fully funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty under the warmer homes scheme. As of the end of August 2026, the domestic solar PV scheme has supported more than 21,000 homes to install solar PV panels this year and more than 35,000 applications have been received. This is a 72% increase in applications year on year and indicates that the scheme is working extremely well and that householders are recognising the benefit of investing in solar PV.

A number of protections are in place for customers experiencing difficulties paying their bills. Anyone who is struggling with their bill is strongly encouraged to engage with their supplier. Suppliers have hardship funds and focused measures in place for any customers who find themselves in difficulty and will not disconnect customers who engage with them. In addition, the Department of Social Protection can also provide support through the additional needs payment to help households meet expenses, including those who face difficulty with fuel bills.

The national energy affordability task force, which the Minister chairs, will have a key role in identifying measures to enhance energy affordability. This cross-government task force was established to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability. The task force is working extensively on the energy affordability action plan to be submitted to the Government in the coming weeks. This action plan will be focused on short, medium and longer term measures to support households and businesses to meet their energy costs.

The energy affordability action plan includes the identification of measures, such as a market revenues cap, which, in a previous form, were based on the 2022 EU Council Regulation (EU) 2022/185. Ireland would engage constructively on the development of proposals from the European Commission on a potential EU-wide windfall tax or levy if such proposals are brought forward, as outlined by Deputy Whitmore. It continues to be the Government's view that tackling the energy crisis in a co-ordinated way among EU member states is preferable, given the interconnectedness of the EU energy markets. Governments across Europe are rightly attentive to developments in energy markets and their impact on households, businesses and the wider economy. The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, in the context of Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the EU, received a joint letter from six EU member state finance Ministers regarding a windfall levy on exceptional profits made by oil companies as a result of heightened prices due to the conflict in the Middle East. This item was put on the agenda by the Tánaiste and discussed as part of the recent informal ECOFIN meeting in Dublin. As a result, the Tánaiste requested the European Commission to reflect on this discussion and report back on the issue in the upcoming ECOFIN meeting in October.

The Government introduced substantial supports during the volatile period in April. They are timely and necessary, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely. Supporting those most vulnerable in society must remain a priority and the Government will continue to do that. The best long-term approach for Ireland to insulate consumers from volatility on international wholesale energy markets is to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Cutting our dependence on fossil fuels and generating power from our own renewable sources will ensure cleaner and cheaper energy in the long term. I reiterate that the Government rejects this motion. I propose the Government countermotion, which more accurately reflects the reality of the situation.

It is disappointing to see again how little the Government has engaged with our reasoned, evidence-based and solidly worked motion, which Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats have put a lot of work into. Once again, it proposes to "delete all words after Dáil Éireann". It is important that people at home know that this is how the Government approaches most Private Members' motions tabled by the Opposition. It proposes to delete all words after "Dáil Éireann", completely ignore the reasoned and evidence-based solutions we have put forward and reiterate how great the Government is in what it is doing.

I will speak to three issues, namely, the urgency of this issue, the fact that the electricity companies can afford this, and the fact that ordinary people are now choosing between heating and eating. People do not have a choice on how to fix this, but the Government does. On the first issue, urgency, winter is closing in and there is a complete lack of Government action on how to properly address this, both immediately and in the medium and long term. The figure indicating that 323,559 households are now in arrears should be haunting all the dreams of the Government. It is clocking up further day by day, just as the electricity meters are, as people who are under pressure from the cost-of-living crisis watch them at home.

The Minister of State spoke immediately about this being affected by external markets and geopolitical forces. We are all aware of that but it is up to the Government to use the tools available to it to fix this. My party is coming forward with solutions that the Government is choosing to completely reject. The Minister of State referred to the ECOFIN meeting of last week. My colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, spoke about a windfall tax and the Department of Finance was quick to come in and say the issue was on the agenda. It was on the lunchtime agenda of the ECOFIN meeting following pressure from other Ministers. I am sorry, but the Government was dragged kicking and screaming to even discuss a windfall tax at that appropriate forum.

One of the other things I picked up from the language in the Minister of State's statement was the term "energy affordability". Energy affordability is crucial, but what seems to have completely evaporated from the lexicon of Government Ministers is energy poverty. That is what people are experiencing, and that is the urgency the Government is failing to deal with. Electricity companies can take the hit. We are seeing record profits. ESB pre-tax profits were €445.6 million for the first half of 2026. There are huge price rises, with energy costs per household up 70% in the past five years and the price of home heating oil up 60% since last year. We are not saying that this motion would fix everything. We are not arrogant enough to suggest that, but the urgency is due to Government inaction on energy costs and its supports for people.

The Government has the tools at its disposal to do this. Ordinary people do not. They need to meet their basic needs for survival through the winter. We have the option, as a Parliament, to help them. The Government has an option to help them. For the older people worried about turning on their heat, the young families who do not know how they are going to pay their bills and everyone who is suffering from the soaring cost-of-living crisis, the Government is not offering any decent solutions. We have put forward an actual solution here but the Government in its countermotion and the Minister of State in her speech have chosen to completely ignore the substance of our motion. Does the Minister of State know how insulting it is for us, as a party and as parliamentarians, and for our supporters, voters and members, that the Government does not even bother to countenance it? I understand there is a meeting of energy Ministers but not even the junior Ministers in the Department bothered to turn up today. I urge the Minister of State to withdraw the countermotion and support the introduction of windfall taxes.

I thank Deputy Whitmore for all the work she does in this area. The Minister of State ended her contribution saying the Government countermotion "more accurately reflects the reality". I begin with a simple premise. There are 323,000 households in arrears on their electricity bills in Ireland today. There are people struggling to pay their rent and their bills. There are people who are terrified about those bills coming through the door. At the same time, we have energy companies recording eye-watering profits. I know they will be mentioned in the contributions to this debate, but some of those figures are astounding. The ESB recorded pre-tax profits of €445 million in the first six months of the year. Energia recorded €70 million in pre-tax profits in a single quarter. Bord Gáis recorded a profit of €50 million in the first six months of the year. It is blindingly obvious to all of us that the Government should act and that the countermotion does not better reflect the reality. It does not reflect the reality on the ground for many of my constituents and, I am sure, many of the Minister of State's constituents, who are genuinely terrified.

We are simply saying that we are in a time of great need. There are people in substantial energy arrears, with average arrears standing at close to €500.

They cannot go any further. At the same time, energy companies are profiting from the very same crisis that is creating fear in the households of constituents of mine and the Minister of State and across the length and breadth of Ireland. This is a binary choice. Who does the Government believe should suffer more in a time of crisis: energy companies, which are profiteering from this crisis, or householders who have told the Government they are struggling?

Over the last couple of weeks, it has been common for Ministers to go on air and say they will not be able to solve every crisis. Maybe they could just pick one or two and say they will solve them. In the great crisis of our time, people are genuinely fearful of how they will heat their homes or, in the absence of that, what they will sacrifice to be able to be warm in the evenings. The Government can actually solve that. We are not coming in here and asking for something that cannot be done. It is not a pie-in-the-sky policy. It is something the Government has done before and has legislated for before. This is within its gift. We do not have to wait to be told we are the good little boys of Europe. We can acknowledge that households are struggling, make the requisite decision to alleviate some of that and have it paid for through the profits of energy companies. It is that simple.

The Minister of State can think of whatever constituent she likes. I am thinking of some of the ones I met when I was out canvassing the other night, who told me they are fearful of the winter. I want to prioritise addressing their fears over the profits of energy companies. I hope the Government will reflect on that reality.

The Minister of State set out that Ireland would engage constructively with the development of proposals for a potential EU-wide windfall tax levy. She also talked about what the Tánaiste had done on this. The European Commissioner for energy, however, has said very clearly that the EU is not planning any EU-wide tax on windfall profits and actually said yesterday that the Commission will help countries to develop schemes themselves. What is the Government doing here? Who is it kidding? If the Government actually wanted to introduce a windfall tax, the European Commission is saying very clearly that it would help us. There is nothing stopping us and there is no EU-wide windfall tax coming. Therefore, it is down to the Government to do this and it can do it. This is all just excuses and nonsense. For some reason, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael seem absolutely unwilling or scared, or lack the courage, to put in place a windfall tax on energy companies. The Government needs to say why that is because there is no excuse.

I am not sure if the Minister of State has read the shocking cost-of-living report by Barnardos. Has she read it? Families were asked if the cost-of-living crisis has negatively affected their children. One in five said that the cost of living has negatively impacted their children. That is up from 12% in 2022. It asked how often people worry about being able to provide their children with daily essentials. Some 29% of parents worry every day about providing their children with essentials. Half of those with incomes under €30,000 are worried about being able to provide their children with daily essentials.

The figures on food are truly scandalous. Some 44% of parents are skipping meals or reducing portion sizes so that their children will have enough to eat. Some 30% felt at some point that they did not have enough food to feed their children. For Christ's sake, 30% of parents in this country are saying they have not had enough food to feed their children. These are not Famine times. This is the point at which we are the wealthiest we have ever been. What is going on? The economy is fundamentally not working for people. On healthcare and additional needs, I am dealing with people in my constituency who cannot afford to get the services their children need because they do not have the money to pay for them.

In the Barnardos report, one parent said, "For me, my mental health is a current issue due to not eating well enough or taking supplements while breastfeeding as I cannot afford them so my hormones are imbalanced." Another parent referred to "Putting off dentist visits when they are long overdue because of the expense." This is not good enough. We need this windfall tax and we need serious measures because this is an absolute scandal.

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing this very important procedure before the House. At a time when Ireland has the highest energy bills in Europe and over 1 million households can expect high bills from tomorrow, and when energy arrears are at record highs and continue to rise month after month, it is indefensible that energy giants are making extraordinary profits while ordinary people are left behind. That is why we are supporting calls for the immediate introduction of a robust windfall tax. This debate comes down to one simple question: who should benefit from a crisis?

Families across the State have been hammered by soaring electricity and gas costs. People are cutting back on essentials and falling into debt. Meanwhile, energy companies continue to rake in profits on a scale that many ordinary people cannot even comprehend. These are windfall profits driven by war, international instability and global energy shocks. Profits are generated because families have no choice but to pay to heat their homes and do whatever it costs to keep their lights on.

Just two months after increasing prices for over 1 million households, the ESB announced profits of €636 million. What message is that sending to struggling families? When people are being told to tighten their belts, cut their spending and absorb even higher costs, they see these types of profits and executives receiving enormous pay increases while profits continue to soar. The most recent analysis of major oil companies found that the world's eight largest oil firms amassed $93 billion in profits during just three months of the recent conflict involving Iran. While families worry about paying their next bill, somebody else is counting record profits and that cannot be defended. A windfall tax is simply about fairness and justice. Companies making crisis profits should make a fair contribution back to society and that is just common sense.

Let us be very clear about another excuse the Government can no longer hide behind. We heard the Tánaiste suggest that any action on windfall taxes is better taken at European level, implying that Ireland should wait for Brussels before acting. However, even the European Commission has directly contradicted that position. Yesterday the climate Commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, said - I think was in response to one of Deputy Whitmore's questions - that taxation in this area remains a matter for individual member states and that member states can act if they so choose. He even when so far as to suggest that pursuing a common EU approach was not the best way forward due to legal complications and the need for consensus among member states. He made it clear that national governments already have the powers to introduce those matters themselves. In other words, Ireland does not need any permission from Brussels, we do not have to wait for any European-wide agreement and we do not need another excuse for delay.

He said that taxation is the prerogative of member states. The power exists, the legal authority exists, the precedent exists and countries across Europe have already demonstrated that these measures can be implemented. When the Government claims its hands are tied, that simply does not add up. The obstacle is the lack of political will. The truth is that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the supporting Independents can introduce a windfall tax if they so choose. They have the power to do so but the question is whether they are going to act. Why do they refuse to act while families are facing the highest electricity prices in the European Union, record energy arrears and another winter of rising bills? It is a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael choice, and ordinary workers and families are paying the price for that choice every single day.

Sinn Féin would make a different choice. We would introduce a 75% windfall tax on excess profits and reintroduce energy credits to provide immediate support in the short term to households. We would reform the energy market to hold companies accountable and end the energy rip-off that consumers face. Every euro raised through that tax would be used to reduce bills, tackle arrears, support retrofitting programmes and help those trapped in energy poverty. It is an essential public good. As we approach another winter, families need action not excuses. The Government is asking households to absorb rising costs while allowing the corporations to keep extraordinary profits. It is not fairness, it is not leadership and it certainly is not inevitable. It is a choice that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have made. They should stop protecting the excess profits of the corporations, stop defending an energy system that is failing ordinary people and introduce a windfall tax without delay.

Ar an gcéad dul síos, gabhaim buíochas leis na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta as an rún a thabhairt os comhair na Dála. Gan dabht, is iad costais fuinnimh an brú is mó atá ar theaghlaigh sa lá atá inniu ann. An choicís seo amháin, ag tosú Dé Luain, beidh breis agus milliún teaghlach i ndiaidh a gcuid billí fuinnimh a fheiceáil ag dul in airde. Seachtain i ndiaidh na cáinaisnéise, beidh an faoiseamh beag a gheobhaidh siad slogtha ag costais fuinnimh atá ag dul i méid. Anois, agus muid ag díriú isteach ar an gheimhreadh, chímid an líon tithe nach bhfuil ábalta a gcuid billí fuinnimh a íoc ag dul in airde agus in airde. Chímid fosta an líon daoine atá ag streachailt chun solas agus teas a choinneáil ar siúl ina gcuid tithe ag dul in airde.

On Monday, in less than a week, more than a million households will begin to see yet another energy bill hike. A week after the budget, whatever little relief people are to get will be swallowed up by rising energy costs. We are heading into winter with record numbers of households unable to pay their electricity and gas bills. Record numbers are struggling to keep the lights on and the heat running. More than 300,000 households across the State are in arrears with their electricity bills. One in four gas customers cannot pay their bills. Those figures are only the tip of the iceberg. They do not include the families that are cutting back on groceries and other basics to cover these bills. They do not include the households on prepaid meters that are going without heat or running the credit until it runs out. Those people, who are sitting in cold homes, never show up in the official arrears data. Neither do families who cannot afford to fill their oil tanks before winter sets in. This crisis is everywhere. Every town, every village and every county is feeling it. If the Government refuses to restore energy credits in this budget, then things are only going to get worse. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents who support the Government were warned before last year's budget. The energy regulator told them that ending energy credits would push more households into arrears. They ignored those warnings and that is exactly what has happened since. Now, record numbers of people cannot pay their bills, exactly as predicted.

Trump's reckless war in Iran did not create this crisis but it has made it far more severe. Rising global energy prices make the Government's refusal to restore energy credits even more indefensible but that does not mean Ministers can get away with shrugging their shoulders and blaming events overseas. This is not just about geopolitics. It is about choices that are made right here in Ireland by this Government. It is about a system that leaves households exposed to soaring bills while energy companies rake in massive profits. Energy credits must be reinstated. They can be partly funded through a windfall tax on these excess profits. However, when I was debating this matter with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Simon Harris, last night, he once again turned his back on this common-sense solution.

This Government seems determined to let energy companies away with it and to let them cash in while workers, families and pensioners pay the price. The cost of extracting gas from the Corrib gas field has not increased overnight and yet we are still being charged more and more when that gas reaches the market. What is worse still is that we maintain a pricing system where the price of electricity generated from wind and solar is driven up by the price of gas. When gas prices rise, consumers pay more for all electricity. Energy companies are making a killing while households are getting absolutely hammered. Even yesterday, the EU Commissioner called the Government out on this when he said very clearly that, if this is to happen, it is to happen at the level of individual countries. The nonsense from the Government in hiding behind Europe on this issue needs to end. The Government can, should and must act.

This Government has choices. What it lacks is the power to intervene. The political will to put families and workers first is simply not there at Cabinet level. That is why this debate is important. That is what this debate comes down to. Whose side is the Government on? When families are choosing between heating their homes and putting food on the table, the answer cannot be to do nothing. When pensioners are afraid to switch on the heat and parents are worrying about the next bill to come through the door, the State has a responsibility to act, to restore the energy credits, to tax the excess profits, to cut the bills and to take a side. It must stop being on the side of the energy companies that are raking it in when ordinary decent Irish people are being hammered by these Bills. The Government must give households the support they desperately need. It must bring back the energy credits and tax the excess profits of these companies.

Just two months after the State-owned ESB raised its prices for over 1 million customers, it posted profits of €636 million and gave its chief executive a 29% increase, raising his salary from €318,000 to €410,000. That is €92,000 of an increase. The Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan has published research that shows that ordinary households are paying the price for data centre connections. We have seen a surge in connections to the grid that are the equivalent of 160,000 homes. Record numbers of people are in arrears with over 322,000 families in arrears. Where is the help? Where is the support? This Government is stripping them of the one thing that gave them help, the energy credits. I have to believe that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not give a damn about our ordinary workers and families. People will be back on the streets. They do not want to be on the streets but they will have to be. Does the Minister of State know why? It is because, if they do not, this Government will not help them. People are angry. They are hurting.

On Monday, a 74-year-old lady contacted me. She cannot turn on the heating. She asked me to come up to the Dáil to tell the Government that older people, families and workers need help. Will the Minister of State do something for them or is this going to be another budget for the rich and for the speculators? It is about time that this Government stood up for ordinary working people.

Tá an geimhreadh ag teacht. The winter is coming. I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important motion. Behind every statistic we discuss here today are real people and real families. Week in, week out, across Mayo, I meet older people, people with disabilities, people with chronic illnesses and families who are genuinely afraid to use electricity or to put the heating on. People who have worked hard all their lives, paid their taxes and contributed to their communities are now watching the meter and worrying about every unit of electricity they use. This Government says that this budget will be a budget for workers. What about the workers who come home in the evening and cannot afford to use energy in their homes or to turn on their heating? Some of these people will sit cold in their own homes because they are terrified of the bill coming through the door. This is taking place on the Minister of State and the Government's watch. In one of the richest economies in the world, with a budget surplus of €10 billion, this is utterly shameful.

Ireland has some of the highest household electricity prices in the EU. Record numbers of households are in arrears with their electricity bills while private energy companies make millions and billions in profits. That includes the Corrib gas project in my own area. The ESB, which we must remember is majority State-owned, recently reported €377 million in profits after tax for the first half of this year. That is up more than 20% on last year. Its CEO is being handed a pay increase of €90,000 for a job well done. Think about the contrast and how we treat the profits being made not because of extra work being done but because of the geopolitical situation. On the one side, there is hundreds of millions in profits and on the other side are pensioners who are afraid to turn on the heating.

The Government tells us that the international markets are to blame and that its hands are tied but it can act. It has a duty and a responsibility to act. This is about political choices. It is about putting ordinary hard-working people first. The Government should introduce a windfall tax on excess profits, reintroduce the energy credits and reform the energy market. It is very simple. The money raised should all go directly to these struggling households and to reducing bills, tackling arrears, supporting retrofitting and protecting people who are experiencing poverty, including energy poverty and food poverty. Nobody in Mayo or anywhere else should be freezing in their homes while extraordinary profits are being made from an energy crisis. When the Minister of State pushes through the amendment to this motion, I want her to think about the pensioners and the families she is turning her back on. It is not right. The solution is there. The Government needs to act now.

Ireland has the most expensive electricity in Europe today. That did not happen by accident. We had a proud history in this State. We built Ardnacrusha, made possible by the visionaries who built that when this was a poor State with few resources. That led to the electrification of the entire State. We had the cheapest electricity because we controlled our own resources but then, when Europe talked about privatisation, we did it with gusto. We did it even more firmly than Margaret Thatcher's Government across the water. We handed over this precious resource to the private sector, which has profited from it ever since. That is how we got from the point where we had the cheapest electricity, publicly owned, to the most expensive electricity in Europe.

The Minister for energy, Darragh O'Brien, has met only one energy company this year - one - back in January. No effort is being made to hold them to account. The last time people got energy credits was when people were voting at the last election almost two years ago. It was so cynical. The Government is making no attempts to get those costs down by engaging with the energy companies. Is it any wonder the Government will not even consider a windfall tax? A windfall tax would give the Government the resources to bring back the energy credits. The Government has them anyway but it would have additional resources. It could look at a retrofit programme across the State. It could take more pressure off people in terms of diesel, petrol and home heating oil. I have no doubt the measures the Government will take in the budget will be half measures again. Why? Because the Government will not stand up to the energy companies that have profited off the backs of our people.

It was the fault of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael when they were in government. It was their policies that handed over this precious resource, built on the backs of visionaries and the Irish people. It was handed over for profit. The parties did not need to go as far as they did. We are asking them to listen to this motion from the Social Democrats, fully supported by Sinn Féin and, I have no doubt, by the vast majority of the Opposition because it is common sense. It gives the Government the resources to do what is right. This is not a tax on innovation or resourcefulness. It is a tax on profits that came on the back of wars in other countries. It makes sense and the Government should do it.

As the Minister of State knows, energy bills are putting huge pressure on workers and families. One in seven households in this State is in arrears on their electricity bills. At the same time, energy companies have been making extraordinary profit from the energy crisis. That is why we in Sinn Féin support a 75% windfall tax on those exceptional profits. Those companies should contribute to dealing with the consequences of the prices. Instead of filling the pockets of their shareholders and executives, the money should go towards reducing bills, tackling energy arrears, retrofitting homes and helping people living in energy poverty, older people, households with young children and families with people who have disabilities. We also need to reform that energy market so that workers and families are not paying the price while companies make huge profits.

In Kilmeaden, County Waterford, the community is facing a massive proposed data centre and, effectively, an associated power plant. I have submitted an objection to that development and people locally are asking very reasonable questions about what this means for the community, the electricity grid and the wider energy system. If it goes ahead, not only will the scale of electricity demand swallow up a huge amount of additional generation in the south east for many years, including any additional energy from renewable means, but it will push up energy prices for ordinary families. That is something this Government needs to contend with as well.

Around Dungarvan, we are also seeing multiple wind energy developments proposed in the hills and countryside. The applications are coming in one after the other, while our national wind energy guidelines are now 20 years old. For years, the Government has promised to update them but repeatedly kicked the issue down the road. Local authorities are asked to deal with modern developments using a framework designed for a very different era and for different technology. That is how we end up with a wild west approach to energy generation and the regulation of energy companies, which leaves workers and families behind.

Communities deserve clear national rules and proper planning and workers and families need a break. Today, there is an initiative taking place across the State, Walk Out for Women, in solidarity with women and girls to take a stand against gender-based and sexual violence. I will be walking out of Leinster House with many of my colleagues to show support for that campaign.

I will be sharing some time with my party colleague Deputy Conor Sheehan. Here we go again. We are in the same situation we were in just a couple of short years ago after Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine. We are here again dealing with the same set of circumstances as a consequence of Donald Trump's misadventure in and on Iran. Anyone who has been awake for the last five years will know that an energy crisis is only really a crisis for the end user, the consumer, the regular citizen and the small business already struggling to make ends meet.

We know that for the energy companies, however, every crisis is an opportunity. As the motion from the Social Democrats sets out, the energy companies across this land, Europe and the globe are raking in supernormal profits. That is not because of the genius of their business managers and engineers but because they are profiting from the consequences of war, plain and simple. Irish people are paying record prices in the context of the European Union, as has already been put on the record, for the energy we all should really be taking for granted. A few short years ago, many of us in the Opposition fought tooth and nail to make the case to the Government for the introduction of windfall taxes on the supernormal profits of energy companies.

Finally, the Government moved, at a glacial pace, to the Opposition's position. The net result of that was the generation of close to €500 million over two years, which assisted the previous Government in its response to the energy crisis experienced by households and businesses at that time. In other words, the template is there. Last week at Leaders' Questions, I raised with the Minister for Finance the idea a windfall tax should be placed on the excess profits of power companies. We got the usual kind of response we expect from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. They said that they were looking at this, yes, and that they were having a conversation at European Union level. They said that Economic and Financial Affairs Council, ECOFIN, was looking at it and that they might have a response in a couple of weeks. It is the kind of incrementalism that Irish families who are put to the pin of their collar cannot tolerate any longer.

They need help. The Tánaiste, of course, said help is on the way. What that help looks like we do not know. We will know a little more after next week's budget but I predict it will be nowhere near enough to help struggling families meet the demands of a cost-of-living crisis that has now become a permacrisis for far too many across this country. We are, as I say repeatedly, a rich country that unfortunately feels so poor for far too many. The price of energy is at the heart of that.

Leaving aside the delayed development of offshore wind, our so-called moonshot moment, where has that gone? We were supposed to be generating much more offshore wind than we have at the moment. In fact, the targets have remained unmet on at least two or three occasions and the goalposts are shifting all of the time. The answers are there in terms of a renewable and retrofitting revolution but this Government does not have the vision to do that, to wean people off carbon and ensure we have a secure energy supply. In the meantime, we need a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies. The discourse on this is extremely slow. Looking at the Government, you would not think this is a crisis. The Government should know it is a crisis. Its Deputies are meeting the same people we meet and they represent the same people we meet but the Government response is far too slow.

Yesterday, we heard from the energy Commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, that the view at European Commission level seems to be that states should go it alone. The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, and the Government more generally, should not be using the incrementalism at European level in terms of ECOFIN and so on to delay its response. We need a response in next week's budget. The signal was sent from Jørgensen yesterday that it is up to individual member states to do what they wish on this matter. Indeed, the motion from the Social Democrats makes it very clear that the socialist Government in Portugal has done just that.

It has introduced a windfall tax on the excess profits of energy companies, which I have no doubt is finding its way into the pockets of low and middle income families in Portugal to assist them through what will be a very difficult winter.

I will say also that it is the case, as usual with the Government and it is a very on brand approach, that it is taking a piecemeal approach and attitude to the difficulties facing households in the country. In recent days, ahead of the budget, we have seen another plethora of mini-announcements from the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on boiler replacement schemes and support in terms of battery storage for solar. In recent months, we have also seen improvements in the supports for window and door schemes. These are all piecemeal approaches that fail to understand we need a comprehensive approach to this massive challenge facing citizens across the country.

We expected a comprehensive approach would be articulated in the report from the energy affordability task force but we have not seen it. This report is being suppressed and concealed. Last Thursday I said to the Tánaiste on Leaders' Questions that it would be good to see the report published. It was due to be published in the third quarter of this year, which would have allowed the Government to take a holistic approach to the supports that are needed and to the overall issue of energy generation and energy security in the country. It would also have had the effect of keeping the Opposition honest in terms of what we can feasibly do in our alternative costed proposals to assist families who are in difficulties. The Government decided not to do this and this is outrageous. We need an evidence-based approach to how we tackle this fundamental issue for Irish society and the Irish economy, from the point of view of a real just transition to give some comfort and assurance to families throughout the country. When will this report be published? We need this information. Irish households need it now. We cannot have another piecemeal approach to this issue in the budget. We need a holistic response that will matter in a meaningful way to people who need the support most.

The ESB made €377 million in the first half of 2026 while the Irish households that we all represent had to choose between heating and eating. This is a 20% increase in the past year. To be honest, it is completely abnormal and unacceptable. If the European Commission is not going to act on this then we, as a body politic, need to act here in Ireland. We need to tax these profits and redirect them to struggling households through targeted energy credits, a fund to help people who are in arrears and expanding retrofitting and solar. The Commissioner was very clear yesterday when he said member states have the power to act. Many EU member states have done so, as my colleague Deputy Nash, has outlined. The Commissioner said that a common EU approach is more complicated. This is why there must be no more excuses for the Government for its failure to act on this.

Last Thursday the Tánaiste said the Government has a plan on energy affordability. He also said that it has the energy task force report but he could not say when it will be published. I presume it will not be published because it will slap the Government on the wrist for what it has not done on energy affordability. If this feels like Groundhog Day it is because it is Groundhog Day. We are effectively in the same position as we were when Putin first invaded Ukraine in 2022.

If we imposed a windfall tax on the grotesque profits of these energy companies, we could pay for the retrofitting revolution we need. There is no point in having a boiler scrappage scheme if people cannot afford to turn on the boiler. The CEO of ESB got €161,000 of a pay increase. This is grotesque when we look at the profits it is making and the price increases it is passing on to Irish consumers, and when we look at the fact that ordinary PAYE workers, particularly public sector workers, are going out on strike. The profits these energy companies are making off the misery and hardship of the people we all represent is completely unacceptable and it is high time the Government reined them in.

Families throughout the country are experiencing a severe cost-of-living crisis. In the teeth of this crisis, the Government withdrew all cost-of-living supports this year, leaving families as much as €1,400 worse off. The Government must now introduce a windfall profits tax on energy companies and price caps on petrol, diesel, home heating oil, electricity and gas to support families with the cost of energy. We already have the highest retail electricity prices in Europe at €480 a year more than our European neighbours. Now, eight companies have told us they will further increase prices in the coming period. The cost of 1,000 litres of home heating oil is now €1,600, which is up €600 on last year, and 500,000 households are in arrears on their electricity and gas bills. In 2023 the Government introduced a windfall profits tax on energy companies and a cap on market revenue which brought in €456 million. The same should happen now.

Energy companies are making huge profits. The eight largest oil companies, for instance, made $93 billion profit in three months. ESB made €445 million in the first six months of this year, Energia made €70 million in the second quarter of this year and Bord Gais recorded profits of €50 million in the first half of 2026. Energy companies are making bumper profits with gold-plated salaries for executives. We must follow the lead of Portugal, which has already introduced a windfall profits tax. Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and Austria are also moving in the same direction. Hard-pressed families need a break and the Government should use the proceeds of the windfall profits tax to give them a break and introduce an energy credit of €500.

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion and we are happy to support it. I have to be honest and say we would go a little bit further with our windfall tax. We think 50% of the profits of these companies should be taxed and this could raise €1.1 billion, which would go a hell of a long way, along with a levy on the data centres to make them pay the same electricity prices ordinary householders. In total this could raise about €2.5 billion and could go a hell of a long way to stopping the energy poverty, hardship and suffering of so many people this winter as a result, let us not forget, of Trump and Israel's warmongering, the profiteering of energy companies and the indifference of our Government and other governments to the hardship and suffering that ordinary people go through.

It is not just that 500,000 people are in arrears and cannot afford to pay their bills, or that older people and the students who will be marching tomorrow will be shivering with cold and afraid to turn on the heat. This leads to excess deaths. It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,800 people, mostly elderly people and vulnerable people, will die because of energy poverty this winter and because of being afraid to turn on the heating or not being able to afford to do so. There are very real and terrible consequences of the prioritisation of the profits of energy companies and the obscene salaries of their CEOs over providing protection for people who are struggling, including elderly people, students and working people, who cannot afford to pay their bills. It is outrageous and insulting.

The global profits of SSE Airtricity last year were €1.8 billion. The profits of Energia Group this year are up 25% on last year. ESB's profits are up to €445 million for the half year and will be close to a little under €1 billion for the year. The ESB chief executive is going to see a hike in his salary of €90,000, taking it up to €400,000, while people will shiver with cold and some will die because the Government will not prioritise their need for heat over the profits and salaries of those running energy companies. It is disgusting.

I ask the Government to change its priorities, tax these profiteering companies and provide help for ordinary people by controlling the cost of the electricity and energy they use to stop the suffering.

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion. It is very important. We are now dealing with a cost-of-living crisis that has gone on for years. While it has been going on, we have had electricity companies profiteering and the country has been awash with money, but the people on the ground are suffering in a way that has never been seen before while the companies profit off their misery. One in seven households is now in electricity arrears. That figure is not going to come down. If anything, it is going to go up. It is very reflective of the homelessness crisis we have in this country, where it has become acceptable and is becoming more acceptable the deeper we come into this. Right now, families in this country are living in misery, afraid to switch on their electricity.

Dealing with this, I have seen first hand households impacted by defective concrete that are significantly worse off because they are trying to heat a house that costs 30% more because it is basically cracked. People cannot keep heat in them. They are in direct poverty as a result of failed Government policy. This continues.

In County Donegal alone, the cost of heating oil is 50% dearer than it was last year. Equally, the cost of electricity in one year in this country has gone up by nearly 76.9% compared with what it was last year. Energy companies are being allowed to profit from the misery of the public. Everybody goes into their constituencies and hears the stories and hears about the poverty. It is vital now that the Government starts to do something decent for once and addresses this issue because it is not going to get better but worse. People are suffering. The Government has a responsibility to look after these people.

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion. What does it tell us about the sort of society and economy we live in that while most people are really suffering, with over 300,000 people in arrears and almost half of parents saying they are struggling to put adequate food on the table for their children, the electricity companies are making record profits? It tells us that the cost-of-living crisis is not a crisis for everyone. In fact, it is an opportunity for those at the top. The cost-of-living crisis, like the housing crisis and the health crisis, is really a robbery of ordinary working-class people and a transfer of wealth from the many to the few. That is what the cost-of-living crisis is about. How can we have record profits in electricity company after electricity company when people are struggling to afford electricity unless something is fundamentally wrong in how the whole society and economy is based? What is being prioritised are these companies' profits and not the needs of people to light and heat their homes and so on.

In 2023, under pressure from us and others, the Government did introduce a windfall tax. It was an inadequate tax and did not go far enough, but it raised nearly €500 million. It was then abolished. The record profits, however, have continued and have now accelerated in the context of Trump's imperialist wars in the Middle East. We have gone from having the cheapest electricity in Europe to having the most expensive electricity. The motion makes the point that on average Irish households pay almost €500 more than their counterparts across the EU. How on earth did that happen? The answer is simple. It is liberalisation. The privatisation and marketisation of our electricity system is the reason we are paying so much for electricity.

In the meeting of the artificial intelligence committee yesterday, I asked the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, if it thinks it is fair that ordinary householders pay twice as much per unit of electricity as data centres pay. The people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis are paying twice as much as those making massive profits, including some of the biggest corporations in the world. The answer was that this is liberalisation. It is yet another reason to oppose liberalisation, which has meant that prices have been going up for people and a slow and not a rapid energy transition. It means that the ESB, for example, which made almost €400 million in profits in the first half of this year, cannot legally use that money to reduce prices for ordinary people because it is set up on a for-profit, commercial mandate where it has to pretend it is just another private company operating in the market on a for-profit basis.

We need windfall taxes and price controls, but what we fundamentally need to do is to reverse the process of liberalisation and privatisation. We need to reconstitute the ESB on a not-for-profit basis and renationalise the energy system so we can prioritise a rapid transition to renewable energy and provide affordable electricity for ordinary householders.

There is no doubt that families are under serious pressure from energy costs. Electricity and gas bills remain far too high and hundreds of thousands of households are now in arrears. According to the CRU, over 500,000 energy accounts are in arrears. We now have around 200,000 children in this country living below the poverty line, with this figure rising to some 260,000 children when housing costs are taken into account. Barnardos is seeing families cutting back on food, heat and electricity. In a wealthy country like Ireland, that is simply unacceptable. Barnardos' own 2026 cost-of-living research found that one in five parents said that they or their children had to cut back on or had gone without food, while 36% of families surveyed had fallen into energy bill arrears at some point during the previous year.

We can talk all day about windfall profits, but there are disabled people in Ireland going without heat because they cannot afford the bill. According to the Disability Federation of Ireland, almost one in five disabled people went without heating at some point last year. Any money raised from the energy sector should prioritise those households that simply cannot reduce their energy use without damaging their health and quality of life. We in Independent Ireland have consistently argued that when energy companies make exceptional windfall profits during a crisis, those gains should be returned to the people struggling to pay their bills. Ireland has used a windfall contribution and a market revenue cap before, so there is merit in examining their reintroduction and directing the proceeds towards households.

We also cannot ignore the taxes imposed by the State itself. If the Government is serious about reducing energy costs, it must look at the carbon tax and fuel taxes as well. We are talking here about solar energy and that should be the way to go. A family relying on solar energy, however, would need to invest huge sums of money and the grants are scandalous. Paltry amounts are given here in solar grants compared with other European countries. The Government will have to concentrate on this aspect in the budget next week. It will be very interesting if that is the road the Government is going to take.

I was at the meeting last Sunday in Moate with thousands of others. We have to drop the carbon tax in relation to production and delivery. The question is where we will find the money. It is very easy for me to be over here saying drop everything. We should, though, put the tax on aviation. Most people do not need to fly, but they most certainly do have to go to school or work in the morning. One other issue to mention is the Barryroe oilfield. We should be out there drilling, supplying our own fuel and achieving our own energy security, and we are failing to do so.

The reason we are in this situation in this country is that the last Government, of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, signed up to a climate target in Europe that was unachievable. Where are the Greens today? They are not here. One Deputy is what is left. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, however, signed up to that unrealistic climate target which is putting everybody in this country now in the predicament that we are in.

The Tánaiste was on the television yesterday saying that people are saying that the carbon tax cannot be abolished. Under the European ruling they agreed to, he is right. It cannot be abolished, but a fixed tax price can be achieved when we see what has been done in other countries. Let us look at Malta and Poland. All the European countries have a tax base doing different things from what we are doing. In Europe, it is said that it is necessary to charge the minimum amount of tax when it comes to energy. The Government is charging the maximum amount of tax because it is using a percentage model. Every time we get a shock in fuel costs, 50% of the price increase is tax. That is the Government's fault for putting that on the people of Ireland. If it applied a fixed price tax, running from budget to budget, it would have the same tax revenue from fuel that it had last year and the year before on a fixed tax price. If there were any increase, the person would have to pay that increased price, but it would be 50% less than what the Government is charging above €1.70.

I have been explaining this to the Government. I have talked to economists about this. I have talked to people in Europe about this. I was in Dublin Castle last week co-chairing an event as part of the European Presidency.

I spoke to other delegates who said it was common sense. Why can our Government not see that it could help everyone in this country by imposing a fixed tax price on petrol and diesel and a second measure for the agriculture industry which is producing food? There should be a no tax policy on that sector at a time of crisis. That is all I am asking. The Government cannot see that. It is putting everyone here at risk and into poverty.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. The principle is very simple. If a company is making supernatural profits as a result of war and the design of the market, those profits should return to consumers. The profits are certainly there. Let us consider the ESB, which achieved some €440 million in pre-tax profits this year alone, an increase of €100 million. In the same breath, we learn that the salary of the chief executive of the ESB could rise by €161,000 - €90,000 of the pay rise has already been signed off on by the Government. The salary for one individual in the ESB could rise to €410,000. That is extraordinary. It is not just the ESB. Energia made profits of €70 million in a single quarter, an increase of 25%. Bord Gáis made €50 million in six months. The profits are rolling across the sector. The salaries are rolling, in particular in the ESB.

We have an extraordinary situation whereby we have record profits at the top and record arrears at the bottom. Ordinary families at the bottom are suffering. One in seven households across this State are struggling with electricity bills. That tells us everything we need to know. It is absolutely scandalous that at the top of the chain we see supernatural profits. That is, in part, due to market design. The price of electricity is not set by the cost of making electricity. Rather, it is set by the most expensive plant in terms of the auction system and that is generally always gas. When the price of gas goes through the roof, wind farms and solar operators are paid the same sky-high price, even though the cost of wind and sun did not change and has not changed. That is the windfall we speak of. That is why we need to move to address it. It is no longer good enough to blame the European Union. We need to take measures ourselves.

We know that some of the energy price rises are due to international factors beyond our control. It is a bit like a broken record at this stage. As my predecessor said, we know that because the electricity market operates on a system of marginal pricing and the most expensive form of power needed to meet demand at a given moment sets the price for 100% of the market. Right now, we know that is gas. I mentioned that our reliance on data centres and encouragement of them at a time when they are pushing up to almost maximum grid capacity means that will feed more gas into the system and everyone will pay a higher price as a result.

While data centres give a lot in local rates to county councils, they are still not paying their fair share. That is why I support the motion. There needs to be a dividend for hard-pressed consumers from companies making excessive super profits and the energy and electricity companies which, as others have mentioned, are making way too much at a time when everyone else is stuck to the pin of their collar. In that context, we need to be real.

I disagree with my Independent Ireland colleague who said the carbon targets are way above what we can actually meet. We should go even further and be a leader in Europe. We have that potential in terms of mass battery storage and conversion to green hydrogen and private wires, which I have been banging on about for years. We have the potential to be a net exporter of energy and gain huge revenue. We would then be able to get revenue from data companies because we would have spare capacity. We need massive investment, and borrow if we need to, in order to do that. Unfortunately, we do not have the vision. We are dealing with crisis management at a time when international factors are at play. We need to look at the bigger picture more quickly.

There is no doubt that households and businesses are under enormous pressure from rising energy costs. Wholesale electricity prices increased by almost 10% in August alone, significantly higher than they were a year ago. The international situation, in particular the conflict in the Middle East, is having a direct impact on global energy markets and, ultimately, consumers in Ireland.

The Government has already put significant supports in place. The 9% VAT rate on gas and electricity has been extended. The fuel allowance has increased to €38 per week. Eligibility for the working family payment has been expanded. The fuel allowance season was extended by four weeks this year. There has also been substantial investment in energy efficiency. Budget 2026 provided a record €660 million for retrofitting, while more than 287,000 houses have received energy upgrades since 2019.

We cannot be complacent. The issue raised by the Social Democrats is a legitimate one. When energy companies are benefiting from extraordinary market conditions, we need to examine whether the State is capturing an appropriate share of these gains and whether they can be used to protect consumers. Ireland has already demonstrated that such mechanisms can raise significant revenue. The previous temporary solidarity contribution and market revenue cap raised a combined €456 million.

At the same time, we have to be careful about the design of any new measure. Ireland operates in the interconnected European electricity market and the position of the Government is that a co-ordinated EU approach would provide a more effective and level playing field than individual member states acting separately. As a Government backbench TD, I believe it is important that we continue to keep every available option under review, including mechanisms to address extraordinary profits where they arise. The national energy affordability task force is currently working on an energy affordability action plan and the Government has indicated that further decisions will also form part of the Government 2027 process.

I too support the motion. Families across Ireland are at breaking point with the cost of fuel and all of the taxes. Households struggle to pay bills. There are higher energy costs and a carbon tax. It is an injustice. At a time when exceptional profits arise from extraordinary market conditions rather than increasing productivity or investment, it is reasonable that the State provides some kind of fair contribution to the ordinary people.

I live in the lush land of south Tipperary where we make Bulmers cider. My late father and many other farmers planted apples in the sixties. In October, or a day or two before, there would be a large windfall of apples. We picked the windfalls the day after as young boys and girls and brought a trailer of apples to Clonmel to make lovely cider. A windfall tax is only logical to put some money back in people's pockets and be reasonable.

Large data centres are using energy. Someone said they pay a lot of rates, and they do, but there is no fairness and balance. We need a windfall tax to bring back some fairness at a time when people make money from extraordinary events, rather than due to their own business acumen, productivity or anything else. The Government is raking it in with taxes. It is time to play fair with the Irish people, who are fair and fine people and want a modicum of support and respect. This is an ideal opportunity and is something the Government could do to put some money back in people's pockets. What is in their pockets is already spent. People will use their money wisely in the economy.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Whitmore agus leis na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta as an rún seo a chur chun tosaigh. Tá sé an-tábhachtach go mbíonn go leor cainte faoi chúrsaí fuinnimh sa Teach seo. Tá a fhios ag an Aire Stáit go bhfuil mé an-ghnóthach sa réimse seo.

I understand the intention and I thank Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats. Bringing this to the House is what we should be doing. We need to speak about everything to do with energy and what we can be doing. I know from listening to Deputy Whitmore at the committee that she is solution focused.

I welcome my engagement with the Minister and what the Independents are pushing for. We want lower bills and, of course, we also need to introduce an emergency measure that copies what we did in 2022, which is the right way to achieve that. From the negotiations, the legal basis on which the Minister of State is arguing needs to be examined.

We had the EU Commissioner in yesterday. I understand we must avoid unintended consequences for investment but we also need to look at other things we can do with taxation. I welcome my engagement with the Department and internally regarding energy in battery storage, plug-in solar and my Bill on private wires. I look forward to working with the Government in alleviating and allowing large energy users, LEUs, to supply their own energy more easily.

We need to look at energy sharing in communities and establishing more DSOs across the network and focus on how other countries have solved the problem. At present, we have an issue where we have one sheriff in town when we could have hundreds like Germany where there is a single person responsible who can say, "This town needs more gas. This town needs more storage." We should have a single officer in those areas who can establish and lower the costs.

I thank the Social Democrats for giving us the time to discuss this very important matter here this morning. The cost of electricity and fuel continues to increase and families are struggling to manage. Indeed, one in seven households is in arrears. Every day people are being encouraged by this Government, and indeed the previous one, to go electric but there is no regulation and no sign of the regulator at all and it has been mentioned here several times. Where has the regulator gone? Is it hiding? What is the matter?

These electricity companies are making massive profits on the backs of customers and the Government is directly responsible for ensuring that does not happen. Yes, the idea or notion of a windfall tax is grand and is going in the right way but companies should not be making this windfall because it is hurting many people. Government is advising people to go electric and is tempting them now to get rid of their boiler with a €2,000 grant but it is not telling them how much it will cost to put in the heat pump. How much will they get towards that?

Every day since Bord na Móna closed down, the cost of electricity has gone up, and the Government must recognise that. These so-called energy grants from the SEAI, such as the warmer homes scheme and the grant for those on fuel allowance, are taking a year and half to materialise. Then, the SEAI invariably comes back to tell people they will not qualify. That is very wrong, and the Minister of State is not addressing that, even though it has been raised here before.

The cost of electricity is exorbitant and the Government is letting the electricity companies get away with it. Where is the regulator? I am asking the Minister of State to find it and get it to do its job because people are being paralysed by the cost of electricity.

I read in the Business Post that Europe has spent over €100 billion extra on energy this year since the start of the Iran War, and that is just in a European context. That is the amount of money that has been spent on energy, with no extra energy really delivered. That figure is just the increase in what Europeans have had to pay across the board. Somebody is definitely profiting, so there has to be consideration given to windfall taxes. Maybe that consideration has to be given at a European level, although I am not sure if that is the best way to implement it.

I want to briefly have a conversation this morning about what I am seeing on the ground in east Galway with solar developments. Solar has huge potential, and we have massive amounts of marginal land in the west of Ireland that could be used for solar. However, the problem is that the way in which these developers are engaging with communities is absolutely shocking. They are disrupting rural communities and are not having a fair engagement process.

I will give one example. In Lackagh, County Galway, a leaflet was recently dropped which proposed a 240-acre solar farm. There was subsequently a community engagement evening on the Wednesday night, where everyone met with the company and were told it would be going for planning in November and December but on the Friday, the company put up the planning notices, submitted the application and now that community has no idea what is going on. It had no consultation and no engagement. We need clear, solar planning guidelines for rural communities so that people know what it means, what is happening and that there is no unfair planning process imposed upon them.

I thank Deputies for raising these important matters and I welcome the opportunity to discuss the pressures households are facing as a result of high energy costs.

As has been clearly articulated by the International Energy Agency, this is a global problem which is causing significant price increases and disruption across the world. The Government is taking action to help households and businesses with the cost of fuel and energy, and it has been proactive in introducing support measures on fossil fuel costs and supports for the transport, farming and fisheries sectors. This is in addition to the range of measures in budget 2026 aimed at helping households with energy costs, which included extending the reduced VAT rate on gas and electricity; enhanced social protection payments; and record funding for SEAI retrofit schemes.

As outlined, there has been significant funding made available for retrofit schemes, and there has been an increased number of applications. The benefit of even simple upgrades like attic insulation and cavity wall or external wall insulation cannot be dismissed. They can improve the warmth and comfort of the home, while reducing energy costs at the same time. Yesterday, Government approval was granted to expand the range of supports we offer to households. These are new storage grants, which are now available, as well as easier pathways for warmer homes and households in RAS tenancies to access retrofitting supports. Every single one of these changes is designed to make it easier for more households to access retrofitting measures.

The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has engaged with energy suppliers and the energy regulator to ensure consumers, particularly vulnerable customers, are protected. The CRU has a wide range of protections in place for customers experiencing difficulties in paying their bills. Each year, the CRU carries out the a on effectiveness of customer protection measures over the past winter as well as deciding the measures to be retained for the forthcoming winter. Some of the key measures that remained in place in recent years included a disconnection moratorium, reduced debt repayments and discounted tariffs for customers on financial hardship meters. The CRU will publish measures in the coming weeks ahead of this winter. Anyone who is struggling with their bill is strongly encouraged to engage with their supplier. Suppliers will not disconnect customers who engage with them. It is also important to note that switching supplier or plan could save the average electricity customer hundreds of euro on annual electricity bills, and I strongly encourage consumers to seek out the best prices available.

With regard to high energy prices, there are structural factors that are relevant. Ireland is import-dependent for energy, making it particularly vulnerable for price volatility in the wholesale gas market. Ireland's isolated island location, low levels of interconnection, widely dispersed low density population and reliance on fossil fuels are also important price determinants.

Energy is central to every social and economic activity in Ireland but we remain too dependent on imported fossil fuels. The energy crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East highlights that we must reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels and develop our own energy security and strength. As an island nation with limited fossil fuel reserves, this means developing our own abundant renewable energy resources and deepening our interconnection with trusted European peers. The national energy affordability task force has been established by Government to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses, while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability.

The first report of the task force published last November set out measures for consideration in the budget 2026 process. The task force is working intensively on an energy affordability action plan which will be submitted to Government in the coming weeks. The energy affordability action plan includes the identification of measures such as a market revenue cap, which in a previous form was based on the 2022 EU Council Regulation 2022/1854, while recognising we have not experienced the extreme price escalation that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and our EU partners have not introduced either a market revenue cap or a temporary solidarity contribution.

Ireland will engage constructively on the development of proposals from the Commission on a potential EU-wide windfall tax or levy if such proposals are brought forward.

Governments across Europe are rightly attentive to developments in energy markets and their impact on households, businesses and the wider economy. The topic of windfall taxes was discussed by ministers at the recent informal ECOFIN meeting in Dublin. The Commission took note of the discussions and was asked to report back to ministers at the October meeting. The Government will continue to actively monitor the current geopolitical situation and the impact on energy markets and remains ready to respond as circumstances evolve. The best long-term approach for Ireland to insulate consumers from volatility on international wholesale energy markets is to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Cutting our dependence on fossil fuels and generating power from our renewable energy sources will ensure a cleaner, cheaper energy future in the longer term.

There has been a lot of constructive debate around solar in particular. I know the Social Democrats, and Deputy Whitmore in particular, are quite passionate about it. Solar is a key aspect of how we can reduce emissions, reduce costs for households and help business to survive. I will touch on the challenge the farming sector in particular has experienced in relation to access to the TAMS grant. Thousands of farmers across Ireland are more than willing to put rooftop solar on their farm buildings with the intention of reducing their emissions, but just as important for them is reducing the costs of farming and doing business. This was a clear feature over the summer and many farmer lobby groups want greater access to solar for farmers. I would of course love to see it in budget 2027. Apparently, around 90% of farmers who sought TAMS support to install solar on their rooftops were turned down. That needs to be investigated for our farming sector, which plays such a key role in food security, rural business and keeping rural economies going. Clearly, they want to play their part. I wanted to make that comment because solar featured prominently in a lot of the contributions.

I thank Deputies from across the House for their contributions. However, I do not accept the motion and I push the Government's countermotion in its place.

I thank my colleague, Deputy Whitmore, for leading on this Private Members' business and for all the work she does in this area. I also thank everyone who contributed to the debate.

I find the Minister of State's contribution and the position of the Government extraordinary. The Government keeps saying this is up to the European Union and if something comes from the Commission, the Irish Government will look at it and so forth. That is despite, as has been pointed out, the Commissioner saying the Commission will not do this but countries can do it themselves and bring forward proposals in accordance with EU law. The Government has been putting the ball into the EU's court, the EU has kicked it back and the Government is left with no response at all. The responsibility is clearly on the Irish Government to do something. This happens on a lot of issues, in that the Government does not act and says instead that the European Union might do something or the European Union is stopping us from doing it. That is irresponsible because, ultimately, that kind of narrative can lead to growing Euroscepticism, which we should all push strongly back against.

On what the Minister of State said about solar, if one goes to farms in other countries, on every single farm building one will see solar. What is it other European countries have that we do not have which enables them to do this? Perhaps strong political leadership is the missing thing. I do not think it is the farmers. Irish farmers are as supportive of renewables and pushing solar as any other area, as the Minister of State acknowledged.

We are talking here about super-profits and extra profits - profits that were never anticipated or expected. A windfall tax on profits that were never expected or anticipated is an entirely just proposition. We would claw back those profits for measures such rolling out more solar and helping people on lower incomes and farmers in rural areas transition to more renewables, which are really good objectives. This would create more funding for that. It would also have the effect of creating an incentive for energy companies to push down their prices because if they know their excess profits will be clawed back by the State, they will not have an incentive for higher profits. There is no justification at all for the Government's inaction on this. It is a constructive proposal. It has been done before. It can and should be done. We urge the Government at this late stage to adopt our proposal for this windfall tax.

I thank my colleague Deputy Whitmore for her excellent work on this. As an overall summary, having sat here for the entire debate, the contempt and disrespect shown by the Government benches with regard to a fully costed and evidenced proposal is quite baffling. The Minister of State just said he encourages people to talk to their suppliers as if that will achieve something, while the CEOs are sitting there laughing at us with the profits they are making. It is just baffling.

There is a perception that this Government continues to pick the wrong side, namely, the side of big business, profits and greed, all at the expense of the taxpayer. The merits of the motion are clear and simple and would do untold good for the hundreds of thousands of people in energy arrears and the people now facing into another winter of choosing whether to eat or heat while providers sit back and laugh at us. The Government has to pick a different side now. The Minister of State can list off the record levels of investment in social protection, the fivers here and tenners there that leave no legacy or the free school this and free school that. That is simply giving people back their money while, simultaneously, the Government chooses to muddy the waters with referrals to the EU just to keep telling itself it is on the side of people. In parallel, the Government gives the sly nod to CEOs of energy and grocery companies, pension funds, data centres and developers. It is a case of "Do not worry lads; we will sort you out". The social contract I was raised with promised me that if I worked hard, put my head down and contributed positively to my community, I would be able to provide the basics for me and my family - to heat and eat. The Government has rewritten that social contract without telling anybody because all of that does not matter any more.

I have visions of the Government telling itself in Cabinet that it should put the squeeze on now so it can give it back ahead of the next election, that is should pull the plaster now and ignore the reality at a time of record budgetary surplus because it thinks it will pay off in the long run as it drip-feeds announcements of minimal increases in years four and five of this cycle. This will then appear to show the people that the Government is listening to them on the problems it itself has created. It is clear the Government has already picked its side. It will knock on the doors, go on the radio and television and say all the rights things, only to do the opposite the minute it has a portfolio to protect or a CEO to impress. "We cannot do it all in one budget", it will say. If it picked the side of the people who are scared to turn on the heating, plug in the heater, light a fire or get a fill of oil, who cannot afford to install solar and who go around the shop with a calculator in their hands, desperately concerned about going over budget while international supermarket chains lap up windfall profits. If the Government picked the side of those people and chose to do good instead of waiting, this proposal would be considered.

We are entering into a winter of discontent. Life has never been so expensive, whether it is electricity, gas, home heating oil, fuel or groceries. People are struggling to keep their heads above water.

I am particularly supportive of the solar measures that are being brought in but they are clearly not enough. More has to be done.

This is not just about energy. I think this is what the Minister of State is missing. It is not just about costs. This is about fairness. The Irish people have an innate appreciation of fairness. If they believe something is not fair, it really goes against the grain. What we are seeing here is that the Government's approach is not fair. People are struggling. An elderly man in my constituency has been threatened with disconnection. I raised his issue in the Dáil yesterday. It is not fair that he is going through that and at the same time we have large energy corporations the Government is refusing to tax properly. It is not just the normal taxation, they are making super profits, extraordinary profits that they could never have envisaged, and the Government is refusing to ask them to play their part, to do their bit, yet it expects individuals to do it.

When we have fuel protests and people are lined up on the roads again, the Minister of State must understand that is actually at the core of what is happening. People know that this Government is prioritising large corporates - large energy companies and data centres - and that they are the ones who are making money and the people who are suffering, who are being disadvantaged, and who are bearing the brunt of the energy crises that they have no part in are individuals, lone parents, retirees and pensioners. They are people who are really struggling and they need to know that this Government has their back; that it will support them and it will bring a level of fairness into this debate.

Instead of saying the EU has ruled out an EU-wide energy windfall tax, which is what has happened, or saying the Government agrees with this motion, it will support it and it will bring in a national windfall tax so that no one - no corporation, no large entity, no large business - is essentially making money off the backs of people who cannot afford it, it is closing its eyes to it. From a social solidarity and cohesiveness perspective, it is making a huge mistake. People need support. They need the Government to have their back and it does not have it.

Is the amendment agreed to?

It is not agreed.

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time this evening.