I ask the Tánaiste again to review the decision not to have an emergency budget. It is absolutely crucial. What was announced last October in the budget left people worse off. It is not just Sinn Féin saying this - we saw in the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, analysis of the budget that families were left worse off and those on lower incomes were worse off. Added to that, inflation is running at nearly double what was projected on budget day. People cannot wait until next year until the Government br…

Many people would love to be in the Minister's shoes and have the luxury to wait this out until next year until budget 2027 but they are not in that position. We have 320,000 families across this State who cannot pay their electricity bills. One in four households cannot pay their gas bills. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of other families are paying those bills but are really struggling, finding it difficult to make ends meet at the end of the week, working every hour God sends them and doing everything right…

There the Minister goes again saying the winter could be very challenging. People are telling me that it is very challenging right now. How more challenging does it need to be when you cannot pay to keep the lights on in your home? That is the pressure that people are under. The Minister is saying that we need to keep the power dry until the winter and budget 2027 and I am telling him that there are large numbers of people who are really under pressure. They are under pressure because of the budget that the Governm…

The Minister finally published his motor insurance transparency code, which was promised in the so-called insurance action plan. The action is completely powerless with no powers to sanction companies. Worse still, I understand it is voluntary. That was never mentioned in the original action plan. Why is the Government afraid to stand up to the insurance companies and hold them to account?

The cost of car insurance is going up and up. This is the fourth consecutive year of price rises and every motorist knows it. Irish people already pay almost double what the European motorist pays for car insurance. When one adds soaring fuel costs, too many people are being pushed to the brink in trying to keep a car on the road. We know from the Central Bank that the cost of car insurance is going up while costs for insurance companies are going down. The simple fact is that companies are pocketing the difference…

Does the Minister of State not accept the average cost for motor insurance in this State is now €655? Does he accept that insurance companies are paying out less than half of that in claims? Does he accept that insurance companies are taking more in profits and inflated costs that they are paying out? They are all facts. Insurance companies are squeezing people dry to appease their shareholders. The Government wants to blame drivers. This Government is going along with that. The transparency code refers to risk mit…

Not according to the Central Bank.

Will the Minister reconsider his position and introduce a windfall tax on energy companies in order to fund support for workers and families in the cost-of-living crisis? The Minister has stated he will not introduce a windfall energy tax on energy companies unless his hand is effectively forced by action at the European level. His performance during the last energy shock was abysmal. He allowed companies to enrich themselves. I urge him not to repeat the same mistakes, reconsider his position and prepare windfall …

It is the same old playbook. We see the same playbook being used by the Government on the occupied territories Bill. When it does not want to do something, it reaches for the EU and uses it as an excuse. The EU has given member states the green light to act on this. The ball is in the Government's court, yet it is still finding excuses as to why it will not or cannot act. It is trying not to rewrite history. The Government opposed action at EU level during the last energy shock. Electricity companies were never hit…

Who said that? Why are you making that up? Did I say that?

With respect, did I say that? Is the Minister just going to make up lies? Is he just going to do that?

I did not say it.

I did not say it.

I did not say that. I actually did not say that.

I know the Minister wanted me to say that and that is fine. I have no problem saying that but I did not say it. I did not work with the narrative of the Minister's script.

Let us be clear. The Minister has the power to do this now. He has the power to introduce a windfall tax on energy companies. He is refusing to do so. These companies are ripping off Irish customers left, right and centre. There is a decision the Minister has to take about which side he is on. He talks about the EU energy market but it does not stack up. The Irish energy market is not as integrated as that of other member states because we are an island nation.

There is a difference there in the first instance. That is a bit of a smokescreen in relation to an action. The reality is that the Minister does not want to do this. The European Commission has given him the power to do it and, of course, he should do it. Let us look at the last time we saw money collected. We know that €178 million is still sitting there. That was money that was supposed to directly support workers and families with the cost of electricity. I told the Minister earlier on. There are 320,000 famili…

It has come to light that the proceeds of selling off the State's assets in the form of the shareholding in AIB is still sitting with the ISIF and is losing value. How has this been allowed to happen under the watch of the Tánaiste and his predecessor as Minister for Finance? What action is he going to take to address it? This is a significant amount of money that is losing value at a time when the Tánaiste has been running around and telling people that they need to get a return on their own investments. We have m…

I have always been of the view that the State should have retained ownership of AIB. It was a mistake to sell off the shares. Fine Gael has a different ideological point of view and wanted the bank back in private ownership and is entitled to hold that opinion. However, the ideological position has come at a real financial cost. I think we can accept that now with the benefit of hindsight. The public AIB share was sold off at one of the worst times. When the Government started selling shares, they cost €2.32. They …

I appreciate what the Tánaiste has put on the record, that there was a reduction from €7.7 billion to a figure over €6 billion in the period of a year. However, it does not matter if the total is €7.7 billion or €6 billion. The money is sitting there and not making any return. It is in Exchequer notes, which means that the State is paying another organ of the State the 1%. It is making no return. It is financial mismanagement, on top of the fact that the Government sold the shares at one of the worst times. These s…