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they voted. I cannot believe they voted with the Government and against Sinn Féin when we tried to bring down the price of fuel and home heating oil. We are supposed to be united together in opposition against the Government. We stood against it, and we voted that … them for what they have done to the people. They have driven people to barriers and out to protest. They have united the people against this Government, against fuel taxes, against driving people into poverty and against driving people into being cold and hungry. How is it that

biggest issue in this country for the past six months has been the price of energy and fuel. The streets have been filled with tens of thousands of people protesting the excruciating cost of energy. Public meetings have been jammed with thousands of people in hotel rooms across

million package but will see little benefit as their euro buys less food and other essential staples, like fuel and energy costs, continue to rise beyond their wages. The protest last week should be a wake up call but there is no sense that the Government is listening … hear the pain people are going through? I agree with others that we must break the back of our dependency on fossil fuels by going all in on renewable energy but where is the just transition that was promised? Why are data centres that are sucking the national

illegal war on Iran, which is just the latest thing to give rise to a fuel shock and price shock. This is an issue that has been brewing for years. These protests last week became something far bigger than just a protest by farming and haulage sectors; they … struggle with the cost of living that many workers and families joined the protests and there was a hope among many that the protests, as imperfect as they were, would lead to better outcomes for everyone. However, those regular PAYE workers have been left high and dry once

contractors and hauliers - ordinary men and women - assemble to peacefully demonstrate their desperation with the rising cost of fuel. They were people who did not want to be out protesting. Many had never protested before, but they felt they had no choice. What was the reaction from Government

that the Government is scared of the people. The only reason we are here today is that the Government is scared of widespread protests about the cost-of-living crisis. In response, we have a two-month stay of execution for petrol and diesel costs alone … zero-carbon economy to get off of our addiction to and reliance on fossil fuels. The only way to force the Government to act is the threat of protest and protest itself. There will be substantial protest. On Saturday, 19 September, the Affordable Ireland Campaign will be mobilising

bitterly cold winter day, I met protesters outside this very Dáíl. One protester said to the crowd with devastating sarcasm, "Is it not great the Government is giving us extra fuel allowance? It is giving me enough to buy firelighters for a fire that I cannot even afford … have told me the extra €10-a-week would not even come close to covering their real living costs. The message of that protest was simple and shameful: eat or heat. I find that utterly disgraceful. Delaying supports does not save money, it pushes people with disabilities into

protests in this country and the war. I will put on the record why the protests happened in this country. They happened because of the increase in taxation on fuel. I will show the Government how it can counteract this, and I have said it on numerous occasions

constituencies. We need economic controls and supports that trigger automatically when price inflation and fuel inflation soars. We cannot continue the current system where small businesses have to take to the streets to protest for their livelihoods during times of price hikes. Of course … high inflation where prices and energy costs soar are actually favourable to tax revenue because of the tax instrument in terms of fuel, percentages and VAT. Through a parliamentary question, I have discovered that this Government is on track to take in €200 million more this year

devastating for my constituents to be left in these situations. A mother phoned me today saying that she put €5 worth of fuel in her car to allow her to do three journeys to take her children to school six miles away. That will allow … because we are going to be back here in a month. There will be mass protests about this. There is no doubt about it. This 2 cent on a litre of fuel shows the Government does not feel what is going on on the ground and does

Mayo and the rest of the country are desperate in terms of the costs of fuel. This Government has acted with complete impunity when it comes to accountability. First, it blamed the protesters. Then it blamed the media for covering the protesters and threatened an investigation. Then … comments about carbon tax last week were tone deaf. The carbon tax was designed to try to move people away from fossil fuels. If you are a farmer in Mayo who is seeking to spread slurry or fertiliser, or cut silage, you do not have an alternative

farmers, bus operators and farm contractors. We have engaged over the past number of weeks with those hardest hit by the increase in fuel costs but we are also recognising that everybody is being hit by this global crisis. That is why a further package of €525 million … reject it in the way it did the previous €250 million. Peaceful protest is a fundamental part of our democracy. It must always be respected and, indeed, we must all protect it. However, preventing fuel from reaching communities during a fuel crisis, at a time when supply chains

along with the agricultural sector. They raised the alarm early about the spiralling fuel costs and the growing pressures facing families, businesses and workers alike. I raised this in the Chamber before the protests as in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, I have been contacted by growers … large community of growers left. From a food security point of view, we cannot afford to lose them. The Government's announcement of fuel supports for the sector was necessary and welcome. Without intervention, many operators, particularly small and medium-sized firms, will be pushed to the brink

Independent Ireland always welcomed any fuel cuts that were made but, in fairness, they never went to the core of the problem. I know, following the protest, the Government was kicking and screaming against giving anything to the people. The people almost had a revolution in the country … protesters could talk. That was refused. We thought we could reconvene the Dáil so if the Government could not talk to the protesters, it could talk to us but it did not want to do that. We tried different mechanisms to put forward solutions and the people appreciated

Minister will remember, that boiled over into mass protest. The public had to force the Government to listen and act. People should not have to take to the streets again for the Government to do something to get surging fuel prices down. That is the Government

quick to blacken their names. In fact, every single intervention this Government made over the past number of days has added fuel to the fire. It threatened the use of the Army and the public order unit, it threatened to revoke licences and it even accused a Minister … investigation in the media for daring to even cover this protest. Let me be very clear, this is the policy of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the ghost of the Green Party to drive up fuel. It is incremental increase after increase to the carbon tax. Last week

week. Our action and engagement on fuel prices was ongoing before the blockade and will continue well after the blockade. This is a country which ranks in the top ten in the world for freedom of speech, the right to protest and the right of democratic participation. Every … last week went far beyond this. It was a destructive blockade which threatened to cause much deeper damage. Everybody has a right to protest but nobody has a right to appoint themselves as the voice of the people and to threaten the jobs and livelihoods of many thousands

Sethuraman, Ben Collins and Claire Mitchell, who gave a fascinating presentation today on Protestant perspectives on constitutional change. They are very welcome here today. The measures the Taoiseach brought forward yesterday to address soaring fuel prices are not good enough. He has short-changed working people, people with

past couple of weeks. This Government refusing to listen. The protests in recent weeks were about its refusal to listen with regard to the cost of living and the soaring cost of fuel. When it comes to the international protection system, the Minister has been refusing to listen

welcome the opportunity to discuss the Sinn Féin Private Members' motion on fuel this evening. I will start off by saying that, as a Government Minister of State, I engaged with the people who were protesting. I went out and met the people on the M4 in Mullingar

roofs and increased supports for retrofitting in this country. Most families would give their right hand to get out of fossil fuel dependence and to have the public transport solutions they need but the Government will not provide it for them. This Government has also spoken about renewables … streets on this issue and it does not want these protesters to put bad luck on this EU Presidency. That is the biggest issue here. The frustrations people have about the level of tax on fuel at the moment is because the tax they are paying is ending

come out. These are ordinary, hard-working people who never protested before and the Government drove them out onto the streets and it may well do it again. It is cynicism. The Minister has cut the fuel allowance in real terms because he has cut the period

leadership. Even after all of that, the pressure and the protests, the Government come back with more half measures, not the comprehensive package that it brags of today. A small cut in excise, which does not make fuel affordable

months on end people who were trying to get it to listen to them about the hardships they were going through. The fuel issue last week was the straw that finally broke the poor camel's back. It certainly broke the back of the Minister of State earlier … Gael incompetence and indifference have landed the whole of Ireland in an unenviable position of needing to flood the streets in rage in protest at what has not been done. Working people, families, and elderly and disabled people cannot afford to heat homes and gas up their vehicles

breaking point and this Government is standing idly by, completely failing them. After a disastrous, stingy budget, families have been hit with soaring fuel prices. Filling the car or heating the home is simply unaffordable. This is not just pressure any more. We are at a crisis point … refused to listen to them and it looked down its nose at them. The Government also ignored the people who could not protest like the carers and people with disabilities. The Government gave a disastrous response. The Government threatened the use of the people's own army against