The Government is out of order.

That is not a point of order.

That is not a point of order.

I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges that: — unsustainably high energy bills continue to put workers and families under significant financial pressure; — average gas and electricity bills have more than doubled over the past two years; — recent figures from the Economic and Social Research Institute estimate that the share of households in energy poverty has increased to 29 per cent, a record high; — the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Ireland launched a report this week which confirms the number of households un…

It is.

The Dáil record will show that the then Minister for Finance opposed them.

The Dáil record will show that the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, opposed a windfall tax.

Notional. It is being applied across half of Europe.

Gabhaim buíochas le gach Teachta Dála a labhair ar an ábhar seo. Is ábhar fíorthábhachtach é seo mar tá daoine amuigh ansin ag fulaingt le billí atá ag dul in airde. Tá daoine ag fáil billí €1,000, €1,300 agus €1,500. Tá go leor Teachtaí ar an taobh seo den Teach ag cur billí mar seo os comhair an Rialtais anocht, ach níl sé sásta éisteacht. Tá a fhios againn go raibh an Rialtas seo sásta tacú a thabhairt ach ba é an tacú a bhí sé ag tabhairt ná tacaíocht do na comhaltaí móra fuinnimh. Nuair a bhí an tAire, an Teac…

Tá a fhios ag an Aire - agus tá le tamall - go bhfuil an ECB ag cur rátaí morgáiste suas le 3%. The European Central Bank, ECB, has increased its key interest rate by 3% and it is expected to go up, on 16 March, another 0.5% with further increases flagged for later in the year. These increases have not worked fully through the Irish system uniformly. However, there are certain categories of borrowers who have already been impacted by these rate hikes. I again ask the Minister to consider the introduction of targete…

The Minister talks about the interest rate in terms of new mortgages, and I do not dispute his facts, but will he acknowledge, when all outstanding Irish mortgages are taken into account, that they are significantly higher than the European average? In December, they were 2.88% while the European average was 1.89%. Ireland's mortgages are actually much higher than the European average. Some 251,000 borrowers with tracker mortgages have been directly exposed to the ECB rate hikes. A mortgage holder with an outstandi…

This is my last point.

The Government has not brought forward a single solution for these individuals. Does the Government plan to do so?

We have the data on that but let us deal with individuals. A person contacted me about mortgages sold to Pepper that have increased by €520. Another person's mortgage increased by €560. If that is multiplied over a year, it amounts to thousands more euro they have to pay. They were sold a lie. They were told they would be no worse off if their loans were sold to a vulture. They cannot fix. They cannot switch. They are now paying thousands more euro than they would with Permanent TSB. There are others who had a shoc…

The new personal injury guidelines came into effect in April 2021 and the reforms were introduced to reduce the price for consumers, not to generate the savings and boost the profits of the insurance industry. There is growing frustration that the benefits of these reforms are being captured by the insurance industry and the companies, rather than being passed on to consumers and businesses. Is the Minister of State satisfied that the current pricing by insurance companies reflects the reforms that have taken effec…

It is two years on. I remember the Minister of State's party leader, Deputy Varadkar, saying that he would give the insurance companies six months or else. We now hear the Government saying the same thing about the energy companies. The Minister of State with responsibility in this area is now basically giving the pitch the insurance industry gave immediately after the reforms, which is that this is going to take a long period to implement. It is two years on. Awards have fallen by 38%. The number of cases going th…

The Minister of State would not agree because it is very clear from what she is saying that she is going to take very little action. Two years on, claims and awards have fallen dramatically. Does the Minister of State know what has gone up? It is the profits of the insurance industry. The industry combined made €176 million in 2021, which is a 13% increase and the highest figure in a decade. That is what is happening. The industry is laughing because the Government is not going to take any action. Across the water,…

No, it does not.

It benefits the insurance industry.

In relation to push payments, financial fraud and scams are on the rise. According to FraudSMART, the fraud awareness initiative led by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, fraudsters stole nearly €45 million through frauds and scams in the second half of 2021, an increase of 50% compared with the previous year. Citizens are increasingly aware and frightened of the techniques fraudsters are using. These have become sophisticated with time, including through authorised push payment fraud. What steps are the Gove…