I welcome the Minister of State to the House.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. As Senators will be well aware, oil and gas prices have been volatile since the conflict began in the Middle East and the situation is dynamic. Furthermore, the issue of Ireland’s energy security has been at the forefront of this Government’s mind for quite some time. Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 was published in November 2023 and outlines a strategy to ensure energy security in Ireland for this decade, while ensuring a sustainable transition to a carbon neutral energy system by 2050. The report was published as part of an energy security package containing a range of supplementary analyses, consultations and reviews, which have informed the recommendations and actions related to energy security.

On the current situation more specifically, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment has been proactive in engaging with stakeholders around oil supply. The Department is proactively monitoring supply in line with the oil emergency response plan. This plan provides the basis of Ireland’s response and provides the Minister with substantial legal powers to secure and protect supply if necessary. The plan and underpinning legislation and structures have been substantially enhanced and updated following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, building on the strong foundations that were in place. As a result, Ireland is much better prepared to manage any emerging situation with respect to a fuel shortage arising from the conflict in Iran.

In terms of fuel availability more generally for essential sectors, the Department is actively monitoring the situation and is liaising closely with national and international partners. It is important to note that the Department has convened the oil security of supply group, which meets weekly, and consists of relevant Departments and agencies, in addition to Fuels for Ireland and oil companies. Ireland’s fuel supply chains remain robust and reliable. Furthermore, the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, has operational responsibility for the day-to-day management of the State’s strategic oil reserve. NORA currently holds 90 days of oil stocks. Stock may be released from Ireland’s stockholding in the event of a shortage of refined product on the domestic market or, as recently happened, to participate in an International Energy Agency collective action to alleviate a global oil shortage.

As Senators will be aware, the Government has agreed a new package of measures on fuel costs to support the transport, farming and fisheries sectors. The measures follow significant recent engagement with industry representatives and are in addition to the previously allocated €250 million in targeted supports to assist those experiencing real and immediate financial pressure. These measures include: reducing excise on diesel by a further 10 cent, VAT inclusive, bringing the total reduction on diesel to 32 cent, VAT inclusive; reducing the excise on petrol by a further 10 cent, VAT inclusive, bringing the total reduction on petrol to 27 cent; reducing the excise on marked gas oil, that is, green diesel, by a further 2.4 cent, VAT inclusive, bringing the total reduction on green diesel to 7.4 cent, VAT inclusive; extending the NORA levy reduction from 1 June to 31 July 2026; and deferring the planned increase in carbon tax, scheduled for 1 May until 14 October. This will provide further support to customers of marked gas oil, kerosene, natural gas, solid fuels and other non-propellant fuels. These measures come on foot of Ministers holding a series of constructive meetings with representative groups, which culminated in this further significant support package to address the ongoing crisis.

Senators should note that there has not been any increase in relation to household electricity or gas since the conflict began. However, a range of protections are in place for customers experiencing difficulties in paying their bills. Anyone who is struggling with their bill is strongly encouraged to engage with their supplier. Suppliers will not disconnect customers who engage with them. The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, has engaged with the four biggest energy retailers in recent months to ensure that hardship funds and focused measures are in place for any customers in difficulty. 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 difficulties with fuel bills.

The current conflict highlights why Ireland must reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels, accelerate the deployment of renewables and expand interconnection with trusted European partners. Since 2015, Ireland has more than doubled the share of electricity in the system coming from renewable sources, which was over 40% in 2025. This Government is prioritising the delivery of more renewable energy and the development of the electricity grid to build resilience and connect renewable energy with demand. A total of €3.5 billion in equity has been provided for Ireland’s onshore and offshore grid.

I reiterate that this Government is aware people are concerned about both energy security and end-energy costs at this unprecedented time. As the geopolitical situation continues to evolve, we will remain focused on ensuring that Ireland’s energy security remains robust while endeavouring to assist those experiencing real and immediate financial pressures.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, for being here. He had to step in at the last minute, so we appreciate his being here. As he said, Trump’s war on Iran has had an absolutely devastating impact around the world. The cost of fuel, energy and food has risen hugely. The impact, unfortunately, is going to go on for some time. We are in a very strange world in terms of what is happening. Of course, those external factors have a huge impact on what is happening in Ireland.

We often talk here about food security and how important it is. To have that, we must support our farmers and those who get the food from farm to fork, so to speak, in terms of our supermarkets and shops. A lot of the disquiet that happened over the last week stemmed from the first set of measures the Government brought in that provided a miserly 3 cent reduction in green diesel for those working in agriculture. I do not know how the Minister for agriculture, sitting at Cabinet, allowed that through. It was clear from the start that it would not be enough to support those working in agriculture.

It has been clear for some time that the hauliers need support. I know a lot of negotiation was going on between haulage companies, hauliers and the Government for some time. It is unfortunate people did not realise that and that the measures introduced, which the Minister of State outlined, were seen as something given as a reaction to those who were protesting. That is not the case. For the past number of weeks, the Government had been looking in depth at what needed to be done.

I understand people are very frustrated. The cost of living has risen sharply. People are working hard and doing their best to keep up. It is very difficult. We saw that absolute frustration spilling out over the last week. People have every right to be angry and to demand more, but it is also important to recognise the real, tangible steps that are being taken. We need to make sure these supports reach people as quickly as possible. We would appreciate a timeline in that regard.

I will say a few words regarding the protests, from the point of view of knowing a lot of the hauliers and farmers, who were genuinely concerned for their future, and supporting them in looking for more measures from the Government to support them. They had a legitimate reason for protesting. Protest persuades and a lot of good, decent people were persuaded by the protests to come out and support them. A protest occupies a public square, goes down a public street, gathers in front of Parliament or Oireachtas Members’ offices, etc., and asks the country and the Parliament for attention. That is important. It is important we all have that right, but a blockade does something else entirely. A blockade puts a small minority at a logistics choke point. Whoever happens to hold that choke point basically holds the country at ransom and practically at gunpoint. That is completely wrong.

We all acknowledge and support protest because of centuries of legitimacy earned by people out protesting for good reason and good cause. Real people were involved in this. There were real hauliers, farmers and agricultural contractors whose margins are paper-thin. They concluded that something had to give. Their grievance and anger was legitimate. The cost of living is real and the Government has to support them. The Minister of State has outlined a number of measures. None of that is in dispute, but some of the groups infiltrating the protests have an awful lot to answer for. Listening to the racist, homophobic and transphobic comments was shocking.

A good article was written that did a deep dive on some of the people fronting this. For example, with regard to the Facebook pages that led to early mobilisation, one such page, People of Ireland Against Fuel Prices Protest, was set up in 2021 and ran under a different name. It ran paid ads urging attendance but when we look into the people paying for these ads, there are huge concerns. Some of the rhetoric used claimed Ireland was being destroyed by Europe and the Government and that the missing fuel tax money should come from the IPAS centres and the emptying of IPAS centres. There was a huge anti-immigration element, not from the genuine protesters but from a lot of the people who infiltrated them, unfortunately.

It is very concerning and it needs to be called out, along with some of the misinformation that followed. This included AI-generated images of gardaí using water cannons that did not exist, old footage of sulkies racing down O'Connell Street recycled as if it was last week and a video of an Army vehicle trapped under a railway bridge that was not even filmed in Ireland. One individual who had run in a general election previously announced that children as young as 12 had been pepper-sprayed by regime forces at the Whitegate oil refinery. Again, this was completely false. All of these need to be called out and the decent, good, genuine people of Ireland need to see this for what it was.

I certainly hope that in some way we are going to be able to get the true story out. A lot of people's true story, as I mentioned, is frustration, anger and hurt in relation to the cost of living going up, with the majority of this obviously tied in with the war against Iran. Something else seismic happened as well. There was an element of trust being lost between the Government and the people. We need to work hard to restore that to assure people and ensure the supports that are badly needed are put in place.

I remind Members that each group has eight minutes. That will equal the amount of time we have for the debate, so whoever has been allocated might consider sharing with their colleagues. The next group is the Fine Gael group of Senators Duffy, Cathal Byrne and Kelleher. Does Senator Kelleher want to speak for two minutes?

I will share time with Senator Kelleher and he will speak first.

Tá an t-ádh linn go bhfuil cónaí orainn sa tír seo, atá ina poblacht agus ina tír daonlathach. Tá an t-ádh linn go bhfuil rogha againn gach cúig bliana, ar a laghad, faoin dream a theastaíonn uainn a bheith sa Rialtas ag oibriú ar ár son. Ní fíor é sin i ngach tír ar fud an domhain, áfach. Is cuid lárnach den daonlathas é an ceart chun agóide, go síochánta, agus caithfimid an ceart sin a chaomhnú. Tá sé sin feicthe againn i rith na seachtaine ach is léir gur thrasnaigh na hagóideoirí línte i gcásanna airithe. Ba cheart dúinn go léir a bheith buartha mar gheall ar an mbagairt sin don daonlathas, is cuma más ar son nó i gcoinne an Rialtais atá muid.

It is important not to lose sight of the fact that the primary cause of the escalation of fuel prices globally was the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, something which is beyond our control. At this point, nobody can say with any certainty how long the conflict will last, or the extent to which it will escalate, both of which have huge bearings on the appropriate Government response and the implications of the response on budgetary commitments made. One thing which is certain, however, is that blockading our refinery and fuel depots is not the way to go. This only exacerbated an already difficult situation and hurt everybody, particularly our most vulnerable. While it is important to defend and respect the right of people to protest, as I said, no Government can yield to unelected, self-appointed people, however well-intentioned, in deciding vital national policy. It is the very antithesis of democracy when sectional interest groups demand that their interests be served first, without due regard for the interests of everybody else. We cannot allow this to be accepted and we all need to stand up for our democracy.

The people of the nation are hurting. Over the past number of weeks in every community, town and village, the protests and demonstrations have reflected huge frustration and anger across the community. It has left a sour taste this afternoon in the Seanad and the Dáil and has divided us. It has divided us in reaction to a fuel crisis that has shocked international markets across the world. We are facing an international crisis. As a country, we have always worked well under pressure, whether that be the financial crash in the 2000s, or more recently with Brexit, when we worked together and supported each diplomatically to deliver a strong Brexit deal. During Covid we worked as a community, as a society and as parliamentarians together and got through that. More recently, there have been energy shocks with the Ukraine-Russia war.

In the last number of weeks, the Government has made efforts to respond to the crisis in energy prices. While it was not enough in the previous sitting of the Dáil to react to that crisis because of the volatility of the market, a second package was announced on Sunday and will be legislated for today. This will go into the pockets of the people who feel under pressure. It needs to make sure that these schemes deliver for the bus contractors on fixed-price contracts who are bringing children to school and the hauliers who are stocking the shelves and delivering produce across the country. It needs to deliver for the hauliers and for the ferry operators who are bringing people to and from the islands of our country. It needs to support everyone who is affected and out of pocket. It is a substantial level of investment.

It has been a difficult time for everyone. There has been a lot of hostility and anger. People have the right to protest, but they do not have the right to block and impede critical infrastructure. That undermines the operations of the State. That is what took place. There has been agitation by Members of both Houses and by members of protest groups, who have tried to undermine, mislead and conflate what is an international crisis. As Irish people, we work well and deliver well when we work together and pull together. This is something that has happened external to our control and the Government is trying to respond to it in real time. I hope that this is an opportunity for us as a country to prioritise our energy security and move forward with critical infrastructure that means we can mitigate the worst challenges that can be put before us by a crisis like this.

I acknowledge the people in Mayo who protested peacefully in Ballina and Castlebar over the past number of days and the gardaí who have been put in such a difficult position across the country. We need to make sure that we expedite critical infrastructure to make sure that we have energy security in this country.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will speak for a moment, as I did earlier today, about the protesters I met and listened to, and whose stories I heard, over the past number of days. They are ordinary working people who get up at 4 a.m., get onto machinery and work hard all day in the darkness of night right through to the darkness of night in the evening time. They are contractors, hauliers, fishermen, farm labourers and people who drive buses, trucks, lorries, diggers and other heavy machinery. They said to me that they felt there was not enough support from the Government through the taxation system for people who are working hard. They told me how they felt that the fuel crisis was the straw that broke the camel's back as regards high, penalty levels of taxation. They told me how this is effectively a fourth tax. They are paying high-level income tax and are hitting the higher tax threshold too soon. They are paying the USC, which was brought in previously as an emergency measure, but continues to this day. They are paying higher rates of PRSI. Many of them are now also contributing towards their own employees' pensions.

These are people who are asking for fairness. They are not asking for a favour. They are people who work hard. They want the opportunity to continue to work hard but to get an adequate return from that, so they can pay their mortgage, raise their children and continue to contribute to society. I do not support the blockades and they told me that they did not support blockades, but they felt compelled to turn out in a peaceful manner because of the penalty levels of taxation on fuel. I recognise the fact there has been an announcement on that, but my key point is that in facing into the next budget, we have to get to grips with the high level of taxation in this country for the people who feel they pay everything in and cannot get anything back out.

I propose to share my eight minutes with Senator Keogan. She is going to take one and a half minutes at the end.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

This is an inflection point in our political discourse and policy, and we all need to recognise that. I was in the Lower House during the no-confidence debate. It was very heated and people were naturally very passionate in their views, but as a collective we need to pull together because there are voices in front of Leinster House now who are trying to seize the narrative. This is not just about a fuel crisis or cost-of-living crisis; it is a political crisis of how we communicate. Therefore, I want to be as constructive as I can.

What is the difference between morality and ethics? The question of how you reconcile two morally strongly held positions points to the difference between them. Ethics is the philosophical approach where we try to reach the middle ground. That did not happen last week until it was too late. As politicians, we need to avoid polarity at all costs and, in this Chamber and the Lower House, work together to reach consensus. That is going to mean compromise.

There is a kind of leadership style that has emerged. I have noticed it, and I am sure my colleagues on the Government side have also and are probably as unhappy as I am about it. I refer to a kind of remote, paternalistic, verging-on-authoritarian approach to leadership. We have to be very careful about that because of the disconnect, which is even felt in these Chambers. If we lose the social contract with the people, it will look like Capitol Hill and what is taking place out in front of this House this evening.

I have a great fealty to An Garda Síochána. My grandfather, Joe Clonan, fought in the War of Independence and then was in the first intake of An Garda Síochána. Kevin Street, then Lad Lane, had gun ports. My grandfather told me the gardaí had to walk out of the station unarmed among the people. My father was a garda. He was involved on the front line during the H-Block riots, the hunger strike riots and the burning down of the British Embassy. Not once in the history of the State have the Defence Forces been called out to a civilian protest.

I saw misinformation and disinformation being circulated over the weekend in the national news media, where aiding civil power operations was conflated with aiding civil authority operations, which is an intervention that takes place during industrial disputes – for example, bin disputes and bus disputes. The two operations are completely different. I have been deployed on both. I was on the front line in aid to civil power operations when we were dealing with organised crime or paramilitaries. You do not equate the Irish people with paramilitaries or organised crime groups. You do not do it intentionally or unintentionally.

I also went to O’Connell Street on Friday and I walked among the protesters. There has been a lot of talk of critical infrastructure. What I saw in those people on O’Connell Street was the critical infrastructure of this Republic. They were decent, honest, hard-working people who were put to the pin of their collar, who did not want to be there and who were only there because they were acting in extremis. Their voices were not listened to.

There was also another group of people there, a very small but vocal minority. I did a little piece to camera on Friday that went viral. If you listen to it at the end, you will hear them say to me, “Go back to your own fucking country.” To me. I am from Finglas. I am glad to hear it has been elevated to the status of a state. An ugly, divisive, toxic polity is emerging and trying to exploit the hardship that our citizens and everybody in this Chamber are experiencing. As politicians, we have to be really careful not to cede the ground and give the narrative over to these really reprehensible voices, some of whom are vocal outside.

I have huge respect for the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, and I have no doubt that he acted in utmost good faith when he looked for the assistance of the Defence Forces, but it should never have happened.

Hear, hear.

The Defence Forces were inappropriately tasked through the C70, which involves aid to the civil power. This involves the use of force. Obviously, during the Troubles, we had aid-to-the-civil-power operations. I was involved in armed operations in support of An Garda Síochána, but you do not deploy in that manner for a civilian protest. We did not do it during the H-Block protests, the burning down of the British Embassy, the Love Ulster parade or the Dublin riots. Margaret Thatcher did not even deploy the army against the miners in the UK. It is a no-no across Europe. There is no other jurisdiction in the European Union that will deploy the military onto the streets when policing becomes difficult.

The Defence Forces should have been deployed in the aftermath by the local authority to help to remove whatever was left behind but they should never have been in the sightline of protesters. That is not a criticism of the Defence Forces or of An Garda Síochána.

I made it very clear in my communication that once critical infrastructure was at crisis point, the protesters should have dispersed peacefully and without hindrance to An Garda Síochána. I pay tribute to the young men and women of An Garda Síochána, who did a very difficult job under some considerable provocation from some of the minority at the protests.

We are in extreme situations. People are desperate and we have been driven to desperate measures. The crisis of these protests is entirely self-inflicted by Government policy. According to the AA, the average Irish driver is paying extraordinary levels of tax for a full tank of fuel. If a fill of diesel costs €117.70, approximately €56.65 goes straight to the State. If a fill of petrol costs €95.50, roughly €54 is tax. This is what the average driver faces filling up every week or more often. It does not even account for the tens of thousands of Irish men and women for whom driving is not a choice but a livelihood: hauliers, couriers, tradesmen and delivery drivers who simply cannot leave their vehicles at home. This demonstrates one simple fact: the State is capable of dramatically reducing prices at the pump immediately if it chooses to do so. Total tax revenue now stands at €126 billion. Fuel taxes alone generate between €3.5 billion and €4 billion annually. We have a surplus already, so this is not an existential threat to the public finances. We are told that the surplus is for a rainy day. Well, that rainy day is here and it is pouring. If difficult decisions must be made, then let us be honest about where waste exists, namely in runaway overspending, poor value for money and a system that objectively fails the taxpayer.

The same applies to electricity costs. Even after reductions, taxes and Government levies still account for roughly 10% to 11% of the average ESB bill. Families see VAT, PSO levies and charges layered onto inflated energy prices, which the Government has the power to lower as it controls the ESB.

People are not asking for luxuries; they are asking for relief, for fairness and for action now, not later. If nothing changes, we cannot be surprised when public frustration continues to grow. The tools to ease the crisis exist. Please use them.

Next is the Sinn Féin group. Who is speaking?

Senator Joanne Collins and I, with each of us having four minutes.

Four minutes each. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I am delighted we are having this debate. I raised the matter on the Order of Business. I reiterate that I stood in Foynes for the five days and five nights. I am very proud that I did because I stood with colleagues, friends and family.

This did not start with the Iranian war. It has been bubbling for a long time. We have heard about it. We have heard about children not being able to get school places. We have heard about carers and special needs assistants marching the streets. Marching the bloody streets does not work because they are not getting anything. That is how these people felt. They felt that marching the streets was grand but asked what it was going to achieve.

They have looked at everything that has happened over the past couple of years with the cost-of-living crisis, and nothing is working.

There is a contractor who is a bus operator in County Limerick. Paudie Kenneally is an amazing person and a really good businessman. He announced on Sunday night that he is no longer running his bus operation. On Monday morning, there were kids who could not get to school. Children with special needs could not get to school on the bus. Their carers had to ring up and tell them there would be no bus tomorrow. What are they going to do? That is what this country has come to. Bus operators are stopping because they are on fixed contracts.

The measures that have been announced and will be announced, which we have heard snippets of, will not cover everyone. The Government did the usual divide and conquer: let us give the hauliers a package and let us give the IFA a package. What happens to the contractors? What happens to the bus operators? What happens to every parent who has to get fuel to take their children to school because they do not have a bus? What happens to the more than 700,000 homes in this country that use home heating oil? God forbid that the Government would think of anything outside the M50. That is how it feels. I can guarantee that very few of those 700,000 are in Dublin. They are spread out. A lot of them are isolated. A lot of them are elderly people who are living in one room because they cannot afford to heat their entire house. Again, not a penny has been taken off home heating oil.

I cannot understand what is going on here. I will tell the Minister of State one thing for sure. That crowd outside is not going to die down. Those people are not going to lie down. They are not going to take any more. I, for one, will be back out with them. I can feel the pain. I stood there for the five or six days, and I watched grown men cry. I am sorry. It is very rare that I see a grown man cry, and it is usually at the funeral of somebody they love. They cried for their businesses. They cried for the fact that they could not continue their businesses, and that they were letting their families down and letting their customers down. To have a country that is so wealthy but where people are so poor, I cannot fathom it. I just cannot understand it.

It is hilarious to hear Fianna Fáil Senators giving out about a Fine Gael Minister. I am sorry, but are they not all on the same side? They all voted with one another on the other side of this House. To hear, all of a sudden, that Fianna Fáil does not agree with Fine Gael because its Minister is in charge of something, I find it quite hilarious.

You give out about the DUP, but you are on the same side.

We are not on the same side as the DUP.

You are in government together.

Look at your history. We are on opposite sides. We are not talking about that. I am talking about something that came up in the Seanad only in the past hour, where Fianna Fáil Senators were giving out about a Fine Gael Minister. I find it hilarious. I will leave it at that.

I agree with Senator Collins. Sinn Féin has no confidence in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry Independents who are propping up the Government. They are clearly opposed to the interests of ordinary people. It is interesting, as has been said, that Fianna Fáil Senators are complaining about Fine Gael Ministers. That may be payback for the Fine Gael Minister complaining about the Fianna Fáil Minister for calling out the Army. In some ways, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has orphaned the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and left him on his own, high and dry. Clearly, the Government parties do not have confidence in each other.

The protests across this country in the past week are an example of frustration and anger. People are really frustrated that they have not been heard. I heard one of the spokespeople of the protests complaining that they had spoken to Senator Brady. Senator Brady apparently made multiple calls to a Fine Gael Minister, and the Fine Gael Minister ignored him. What hope do ordinary people have if the Minister is ignoring Senator Brady? It highlights how out of touch and elitist this Government is that its members would not even return calls from Fine Gael Senators.

I hear that the Government is focused on unfortunate individuals missing doctor’s appointments. Of course, that is far from ideal. However, that is coming from the same Government that has overseen the destruction of the health system. Spina bifida patients are queueing up waiting for operations. Tell that to the parents of little Harvey Sherratt. Those families have been let down, time and again, by the health system that the Government has overseen. Yet it is highlighting people who are delayed getting to the doctor, which, of course, is unfortunate.

Senator Clonan mentioned the Minister for justice calling out the Army. Anybody with a cursory knowledge of Irish history would know what that was going to do and how it was going to be perceived. Calling out the Army for civilian protests is unbelievable. It is unbelievable that any Minister would think that was okay, and that it was going to be well-received. The Government and the Minister should apologise to the Irish people for threatening them with the Army. It is unacceptable that the Army would be considered at all. We have a very good police force. It should be allowed to do its job and be resourced to do it.

The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, was looking for Coimisiún na Meán to carry out a probe into the national media. This is the same Minister who, when it was requested that there be a review of the coverage of the genocide in Gaza, said it was a chilling and outrageous attack on press freedom. What a hypocrite he is.

People have lost confidence. As was said earlier, we are the messengers. If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have confidence in themselves, let us go and have an election.

We move to the Cross-Party Group. Members are sharing time. Is that agreed? Agreed. I call Senator Stephenson.

Many households, particularly in rural Ireland, are being crippled by rising fuel costs. This has been going on for a long time, not just in the past few weeks. Approximately 315,000 households are in arrears on their energy bills, and that figure is up 20% in the past year. Rather than acknowledging this reality, the Government chose to respond disdainfully and dismissively to protesters’ very real concerns, and the response was totally out of touch. What we saw from the Government was a failure of leadership and empathy, which escalated the situation, deepening frustration and anger, rather than resolving it.

While I do not agree with the blockading of fuel depots and critical infrastructure, which is highly problematic, the response from the Minister for justice to announce, it seems without any prior ministerial discussion, the deployment of the Defence Forces only fanned the flames. It raises serious questions about how this Government manages, or does not manage, civil disobedience. Rather than acknowledging the lived experience of those behind the protests, the response was to frame protesters as a problem to be managed, rather than a signal that they should be listened to. People have been struggling for a long time to keep their heads above water, so it is no real surprise that this latest fuel crisis was the tipping point for so many people across the country.

The core issue goes well beyond the protests last week. Investor funds and big multinationals are given tax breaks while working people are pushed to the pin of their collar, with soaring grocery, fuel and energy bills. The front-line workers, farmers, hauliers, nurses and carers who keep this country going are struggling to keep the heat on and keep food on the table while paying mortgages or rising rents. These are the people we depend on every day. These are the people who the Government has not listened to, the people who had enough of this shambolic Government’s response in the past week.

What we need now are real solutions. The Social Democrats have tabled a motion tomorrow in the Dáil that proposes a range of different supports, including a targeted energy credit of €400 to the most vulnerable households and a supplementary mileage scheme for emergency workers such as nurses and carers. We can all agree that what happened in the past week and how it was handled was incorrect. To use a dead, old phrase, we need to see lessons sincerely and genuinely learned so that we can deal with this in the future because there will be more.

It was very obvious going into the Dáil debate today that the Government had not only failed to predict the extent and scale of the protest but is still failing to grasp the depth of the public anger and the failure to address the ever increasing cost of fuel and living. As has been said here today, this did not start just two weeks ago; it was inevitable and foreseeable.

I will go back to the origins of the issue, namely, the continued reliance on fossil fuels and the Government's blind conviction that it is business as usual. It is hard to listen to Government politicians, in particular rural Independents in my constituency, saying they understand. These are people who claim to go into Government to protect rural communities and have done the reverse. They are determined to undermine and reverse any previous commitments to investment in renewable energies.

We have repeatedly heard a Government spokesperson touting the delivery of massive floating LNG storage depots as necessary for energy security. Have the attacks on LNG facilities in Qatar opened anyone's eyes? A floating tank of explosive gas is not security; it is a target.

Why has the Government squandered the fruits of hard work? I commend my Green Party colleague. Hard lessons and work were put into renewable energy and the Government tore that down. We have to show leadership on this. We should follow the example of Pedro Sánchez in Spain, who is acting on the cost of living and is a fierce and fearless critic of America. We continue to support the American and Israeli Administrations by facilitating the refuelling of American warplanes in Shannon. If we continue to do this, we will continue to fail to address the root cause of this crisis, namely, the unashamed American and Israeli militarism which we in this country are supporting. By not listening, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents in the Government have handed this on a plate to the far-right groups that have taken over and infiltrated the protests.

They say that a week is a long time in politics. Certainly for the Government, the last week has been a game-changer in that it has lost credibility with many of the Irish people and just half an hour ago it lost one of its Ministers of State. A week is a long time. It is long time if you are living in poverty. A day is long time if you are living in poverty.

One in five children in this country is living in poverty when housing costs are taken into account. That rises to over 40% for those renting. We are not protecting renters; there were 20,000 evictions in 2025. These fuel protests were not just about fuel; they were about the cost of living. There is a difference between living and existing and many people in this country are trying to merely exist.

When we talk about poverty, we are talking about not having warm clothes, not being able to eat, not having shelter and not being able to make friends, build a community and have an independent life. One in five people with a disability is living in poverty in Ireland. The Government made them €1,400 less well off in the last budget.

I have to ask what the Government is doing with our public money. We know there is a lot of wastage. That has been reported. It is wasting a boom time when it should be protecting ordinary people in this country. That is what the protests were about. They were about the cost that it takes to exist in this country and to live and build a life whether you can or cannot work. The Government needs to do better. We all need to do better. We in opposition need to and are offering a credible alternative. Many are trying to capitalise on this, including bad actors and extremists. We need to provide proper democratic alternatives.

This is a very experienced Government with many years of governance under its belt, yet it has displayed unprecedented levels of incompetence and disregard for our international obligations. It is setting future generations up for an unsafe future through rowing back on action on climate, nature and water. We have been consistently told the carbon tax was sacrosanct. We will face a hell of a battle when the deferred increase has to be got over the line in October. How will the Government fund the warmer homes scheme?

Despite this, nobody in public life deserves to be treated in a way that threatens you or your family's home or denigrates your dignity. What we witnessed online over the course of the past week was disgusting. There are public representatives all over the country who should reflect on their complicity in such behaviour at the very least for not calling out the racism, incitement to hatred and utterly vile language that was used by a small but growing minority. It is clear that the protest was hijacked by outside forces. Gardaí were intimidated and threatened. It behoves all of us as policymakers to call this out and tackle it head-on. What is even more worrying is that a mechanism and means have now been tried and tested to grind this country to a halt. The security review must ensure that recommendations are made to future-proof critical infrastructure from being blockaded.

The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, proposed to task Coimisiún na Meán to review the media coverage of the protest. Our mainstream media outlets have acted impartially and in a balanced way, presenting the news as it unfolded, and like many others had to report on a very fast-evolving situation that was unfolding in multiple locations across the country. I commend them on this. The protests and blockades were organised in WhatsApp groups and fuelled by social media companies allowing hate speech and incitement to hatred to be shared freely. If the Minister has a gripe with how all of this unfolded, then he needs to haul in X and Meta.

I want to start by saying very clearly that I understand why people are on the streets. The cost of fuel and energy is breaking people and the Government has been far too slow to see this and act. Energy prices have gone through the roof in recent years. Research from the ESRI and others show that around three in ten households are now in energy poverty, the highest level ever recorded in this State. Hundreds of thousands of families cannot afford to keep their homes warm and cover basic energy bills if prices rise any further. People are struggling as it is. The 10 cent reduction in the cost of fuel is more of an insult than a help. I do not know if the Government is living in the real world. Do they know what is going on in petrol stations or about the rapid increase in the cost of petrol and diesel around the country?

Statistics from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul show that nearly 300,000 households are now in arrears on their energy bills and are living in energy poverty. I have heard a lot of Fine Gael Senators and Deputies speak about getting up early in the morning. The cost-of-living crisis in the country goes back to the campaign Leo began with reference to getting up early in the morning. That now includes people who get up at 4 a.m. What about mothers who cannot afford to fill their cars and are now walking 5 km to bring their children to school? What about nurses who are driving for miles at 8 p.m. to work a night shift? What about migrant workers?

I did not attend any of the protests because they were overtaken by the far right. A lot of hard-working people came out to protest. I am terrified to be part of any protest where I see the Tricolour. It is an absolute disgrace that a public representative is afraid to go to any protest where there is a Tricolour. There is so much hatred out there towards people from migrant backgrounds, yet we have a health system that is barely standing. As I have said numerous times, it would not be standing if we did not have migrant workers in our hospitals. That is something we should all highlight to the far right.

It boils my blood to even waste a second talking about these people who are spreading hate, rumours and lies. If I was a Deputy, I do not know whether I would have supported a vote of no confidence in the Government. The Government needs to support ordinary families in this country.

That is why we need to support not only those who get up at 4 a.m. or 6 a.m. but everybody, especially people living in poverty. I know exactly what it is like to live without electricity for two or three days and to live in a cold house. I know what it is like to stay off school because my clothes were not washed. I know what it is like to not be able to go to school because, due to the bitter cold the night before I got no sleep.

I have eight minutes.

You do indeed but I must suspend now because there is a vote in the Dáil. We will resume with the remainder of Senator Flynn's speech. I apologise for that.

That is fine.

I will be back.