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political football. Not alone are energy costs high but Government decisions on the cost of groceries, housing, the inadequacy of public and active transport and the lack of a real right to remote work have unleashed acute financial pressures that households feel every day. It is not just … system was able to develop a Covid wage subsidy scheme overnight to save jobs and businesses. That system must be capable, with the right political decision-making, to ensure the targeting of relief for households most in need of a breather. A Government with the resources to spend

capable of changing with them. Despite some easing in global prices in recent days, international energy markets remain exceptionally volatile. Nobody in this House knows with certainty where the price of oil will be in November. Nobody knows where it will be in January. Nobody knows what geopolitical … Government has a responsibility to respond to the circumstances in front of us, to use the best information available, to act at the right time and, above all, to act in the interests of the Irish people. That is why we have recalibrated our approach and we will

cost the taxpayer billions but do not last and do not fix anything. The deferral of these excise duties will be adopted, and rightly so, but this Government has no answer for the day after this deferral ends. A Minister was on the airwaves last week stating that … Alice in Wonderland stuff. The cost-of-living crisis goes far beyond the price at the pump. The ever-increasing cost of housing, groceries, childcare and electricity has made paying for the basics a nightmare in this country. A constituent recently contacted me to share her struggles

that we are in a completely different situation from the one we were in back in July. Fuel costs are continuing to increase right across the board and there is no sign of stability in the Middle East. Over the past two months, I have met many … costs increase yet again. Why not look at solar energy and continue the roll-out of solar panels? They should be on every house, industrial premises, school and shed in Ireland. Tonight, not one bulb will be lit using energy from the Irish Sea. A planning application