I support Senator Ó Donnghaile's call for a debate on the eviction ban. I have received numerous phone calls this morning and last night. It is important that someone from the Government come to the House to discuss where these people are going to go. I dealt with families this morning who were in tears. I have contacted the local authority, but there are no places for them. I would appreciate it if someone from the Government attended the House as soon as possible to discuss what is happening with housing. People need certainty, but last night provided none. The Government speaks about cliff edges. Many people are hanging off cliff edges by their fingernails after last night's vote.

I wish to raise the Life Saving Equipment Bill 2017. We last discussed it on Committee Stage in February 2022. A mindless act of vandalism took place at one of my local GAA clubs, namely, the Round Towers GAA club in Kildare town. The defibrillator located there was so badly damaged that it is almost beyond use. The club wrote how it did not need to stress how important this piece of lifesaving equipment is for the town community and noted: "This is shocking behaviour. If anyone has any information on who is responsible please contact Kildare Town Gardaí."

I also raised the issue of the Bill last November, when two automated external defibrillators were stolen from Castlemitchell GAA club, which is my club, just outside Athy and from St. Joseph's, a neighbouring GAA club across the border in Laois. The people carrying out this criminal damage must understand that they do not know the hour when someone in their families or, indeed, they themselves will need this life-saving equipment.

Colleagues in the Fianna Fáil Party are debating the matter and I understand the Bill is with the Government at the moment, but it needs to be enacted. The message needs to go out that, if people inflict criminal damage on life-saving equipment, they will face the consequences. We cannot afford to have this equipment stolen, damaged or put beyond use when someone needs it. I include life buoys in this regard. Coming from a town with a canal and a river, I have encountered situations where life buoys were stolen and were not available when people needed them. Life buoys are covered by the Bill. I would like an update on the Bill and to see it enacted as quickly as possible.

In the short time remaining to me, I wish to raise the matter of school places, particularly in special schools. I have taken a number of calls in recent days from people who cannot get school places for their loved ones in south Kildare. In some cases, their loved ones have been out of the school system for more than a year. This is not good enough. They have tried ten and, in one case, 12 local schools within an hour and a half of them. There are no places for their loved ones. We need to debate the matter with the Minister. I appreciate the Deputy Leader's time.

I support Senator Ó Donnghaile's call for a debate on the eviction ban.

Aside from homelessness, there are many sources of worry and anxiety in people's lives. One I hear about constantly is that of electricity bills. Prices have risen so rapidly in recent months that people are no longer able to estimate what their bills will be. Sometimes, the fear is so great that the envelope is left unopened on the kitchen counter because the recipient is too afraid to open it. We know that feeling. The envelope becomes a physical manifestation of the pervasive sense of dread that the cost-of-living crisis inspires in many households.

The outlook is brighter for some, though. The ESB just posted extraordinary profits of €847 million for 2022, an increase from €679 million in 2021. To celebrate its success, the ESB has proposed an enhanced shareholder dividend of €327 million, which would be €200 million more than last year's. The State is the majority shareholder in the ESB. Why is the State allowing the ESB to fleece customers to make these bumper profits? Why is the Government not meaningfully protecting customers from flagrant price gouging? When Russia began its criminal invasion of Ukraine, global energy prices spiked, which was reflected in people's bills. We could argue about whether enough was done at the time to insulate the people made vulnerable by this price spike, but the economic logic behind it was clear. A year later, wholesale energy prices have normalised, but that reduction is not reflected in consumers' bills. Is this war profiteering, plain and simple? Is it greedy and damaging to social solidarity?

The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, has stated that the money the State receives from its dividend will be used to fund cost-of-living measures in the next budget. I am concerned about this. People are being crippled by bills. Using bumper profits to fund cost-of-living rebates is a form of indirect taxation that only contributes to a dysfunctional energy market. Cost-of-living rebates do not get to the core of the cost-of-living crisis, which is lax regulation and decades of neoliberal policies and unchecked corporate greed.

The system is broken, squeezed customers are paying the price, and something needs to be done. I would like the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, or the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to come before the House to address the issue of how the Government will ease the burden of energy bills.