Táimid ag foghlaim inniu go bhfuil ardú 6.7% tagtha ar phraghsanna le bliain anuas agus go bhfuil praghsanna fuinnimh ag dul suas níos mó, thart ar 47%. Tá níos mó ná dúbailt tagtha ar chostais ola théimh le bliain anuas. Tá na hoibrithe agus teaghlaigh ar fud an Stáit ag fulaingt mar gheall ar chostais mhaireachtála. Caithfidh an Rialtas dul i ngleic leis seo. Ba chóir go mbeadh sé ag tógáil an ualaigh throm seo atá ar theaghlaigh ach ní hé sin atá beartaithe. Is é an rud atá beartaithe ag an Rialtas seo ná go mbe…

What that sums up is that the Tánaiste, as leader of his party, is completely out of touch. We at least have a bit of confidence that some of his backbenchers understand some of the pressures families are under. The proposal we put to him back in November was to engage with the European Commission to get the flexibility to reduce the VAT rate to 0%. The Tánaiste's Government and Minister of Finance did nothing. This issue was first raised when a letter was sent to the European Commission on 10 March. The Government…

Those are the facts.

Why is the Government putting up the price of home heating oil?

It is why the Government is increasing the price of home heating oil and gas.

The Government is bringing in the increases.

On 10 March.

The Government sat on its hands.

That is not true.

The Tánaiste is misleading the Dáil.

Check the record. The Tánaiste is a disgrace. Check the record. He is misleading the Dáil.

Check the record. We asked the Government to engage with the European Commission, but it refused to do so for months as families were under pressure.

Check the record and stop misleading the Dáil.

I will not allow the Tánaiste to mislead the Dáil-----

On behalf of Sinn Féin, I also want to wish Teresa well and thank her for her years of service to all of us in this House. I wish Noel and Liam well in their new posts. Today, some 84,000 people over the age of 75 are languishing on hospital waiting lists, an increase of 80% since 2014. The Government cannot blame the pandemic on this because before we knew about Covid, these lists were rising rapidly, by a shocking 10% per year. More than 25,000 people over the age of 75 are waiting a year for a first hospital con…

Hear, hear.

That is not true.

The Taoiseach has no answer.

The Taoiseach cannot answer.

On Friday, a Danish vessel with a cargo of blue whiting was prevented from landing at Killybegs Harbour due to the approach that has been taken by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority with regard to how fish are weighed. Yesterday, a Norwegian fishing vessel was also prevented from landing at Killybegs. Some 54 workers were told that there was no work for them in the processing factory and were sent home. Today, as we speak, the same Norwegian vessel, the Ingrid Majalla , is pulling into the port of Derry, which …