Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-06
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Holly Cairns (SD), Cork South-West

This is not about ignoring certain measures the Government has introduced but when I ask the Taoiseach about targeted supports for people who cannot pay their bills, in the context of an energy crisis and rising costs of 70% in a month for home heating oil, it is not that I have no regard for the free book scheme. For somebody watching, who is struggling to pay their bills, when the Taoiseach is asked about targeted energy supports for people who cannot pay their bills and he talks about the school book scheme, they despair.
In the context of these rising energy costs, the Taoiseach understands there is an energy crisis, understands we have energy costs that are 40% higher than the European average and understands how much people are struggling. How does he expect people to wait until October? We already had hundreds of thousands of people in arrears on their energy bills before this crisis. We already had disabled people out on the street protesting for an emergency disability payment. Even before that, we knew that one in five disabled people is living in poverty but the Taoiseach will not bring in any measures between now and the budget for these people who need help.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-06