Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-23
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Pearse Doherty (SF), Donegal

The Tánaiste is still not listening. He is trying to spin it, and he can try to spin it whatever way he wants, but people, in their real, lived experiences, know where they are at. They see prices going up. They see the prices of electricity, fuel, home heating oil and groceries going up. They see all of that. They see a Government that is talking about surpluses - billions of euro more than were expected - and refusing to act.
The Government does not need the European Commission’s approval to introduce energy credits. It withdrew those energy credits in the height of winter. We told the Tánaiste what would happen. What happened Simon? Never have we seen more people in the history of this State who cannot pay their electricity bills. On top of that, we have fuel prices and groceries increasing and rents, insurance and student fees going up. It is never ending on families. I am telling the Tánaiste, what the Government needs to do is act now. It needs to bring forward an emergency cost-of-living package that supports families in the here and now. People cannot wait for the Government to get its act together in the budget in October for measures to be implemented in January. People’s bills are rising now. They are looking for help and leadership and the Government is continuing to give them the deaf ear.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-23