Across the State, households are watching the price of fuel surge in real time. In the days since the US-Israel strikes on Iran, the cost of home heating oil has skyrocketed. We are hearing from people across the country and, in most cases, the price of a delivery has effectively doubled. The average price for 500 litres is now just under €800. Since my colleagues and I have raised this issue publicly over the past number of days, I have been inundated with emails from people describing what is happening. One household told me that on Saturday, they were quoted €525 for heating oil. Days later, the same supplier was charging €859. When prices jump like that in a matter of days, people draw a very obvious conclusion: somebody is cashing in on a crisis.
It is not just one case. A worker who contacted me ordered oil at €498 at the weekend. Within days, the same supplier was charging €700. Another worker, a carer who travels long distances for her job, paid €447 for 500 litres last month. This week she checked again and the price had jumped to over €800. For her, as she put it to me, higher diesel and heating costs mean that she may have to take a second job just to stay afloat. I also heard from pensioner households, who placed orders earlier this week, only to be told the price could not be confirmed until the day of delivery. When they checked again, the costs had nearly doubled. They had to cancel their order because they did not have the money to pay for it. This is the reality facing people right here, right now today. Workers, carers, farmers, pensioners and rural households have no alternative to heating oil. This is price-gouging with companies exploiting a crisis to squeeze more profit out of households already under severe pressure. This is an emergency and a crisis for each and every one of those families.
The Government's response so far has been completely out of touch. This morning, we heard Ministers saying families may feel acute pressure in the coming days. What an understatement. Another Government TD said on television last night that it is premature to talk a the cost-of-living crisis. What planet are they on? There is a cost-of-living crisis right here, right now facing so many families. The Government does not seem to understand what people are facing. This is not something that might happen in the future. People are in crisis today. People cannot wait. If their home is cold tonight, it needs to be heated tonight, not next week, next month or in six months. It needs to be heated tonight, yet those families do not have the money to pay. These are real people facing a real crisis. The message, it seems, from the Government - and I have listened over the past number of days - is to wait and see.
The Minister for enterprise, Deputy Burke, said he will meet the industry on Friday to talk about pricing structures. Unfortunately people have seen this movie played out before. Ministers met big retailers about grocery prices. What happened? Grocery prices went up. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien did something similar with energy companies. What happened? Energy prices went up. There is little point in Ministers having cosy chats with companies. We need to see real action on price-gouging and real action from this Government in relation to supports for families. Here is why. One in four people has less than €500 in savings. An increase like filling a home heating tank wipes out those savings. Many more do not have any savings. People see companies cashing in on a crisis. They see a Government, frankly and shamefully, standing idly by while it happens. I will ask the Tánaiste directly and plainly: what concrete and immediate steps will he take to stop this rip-off and protect households facing these outrageous fuel price hikes?
