Pearse Doherty: Government out of touch on fuel crisis

Níl an ríolta seo ag éisteart le gré mointir na tíra seo, agus níl tith seste an gríomh a dhéannu, le ceann a dhéannu ar brosla, sa dóaisc a mbéal seo ag praise réisinte. I geantar tuaithe na hÉireann seo, fod fad na tíra, ta ibranní, ta teallí, ta ffermairí, ta gcóorthaí bygge, faoi brú olbhór, gan río bíochú ag praise na erde a bhíoch. Agus núr a lóir díní maith, núr a lachse taith na stréide, thora an ríolta seo ag a bhfhéas a dhéachao agus bhfhágaráchao an éit eaisteart leo. Bhíon is, ta na bháirta a taiseo beith tórt an tásaí a bhfhád a bhfhád rá léach. Is ríolta seo a ta típia, agus níl múinín na gré a dhéannu na tíra seo an ymh, caithaí seo bhfh éimirt. A government that doesn't listen doesn't have the confidence of ordinary people, and by God, this is a government that doesn't listen. Can Córlaí Lás count, but maybe he might inform us, how many pats in the back did the Tánaiste give themselves earlier on? Tell ye, I've never heard such a out-of-touch speech in this Dáil ever. Because this is a government that still refuses to make fuel prices affordable at the pumps. Because if you were listening, Tánaiste, if you were listening, you would know that the cost of living crisis is crushing ordinary people. Fuel prices have surged, still more than half what people pay at the pumps is taken away in taxes. And week after week, prices rose and pressure mounted. And what did Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael and the Independents do? Nothing of substance. No urgency, no real intervention, no leadership. You stood back while people were being pushed to the brink. Your first response was an insult. And benefit, any benefit that was wiped out, almost immediately. No action on home heating oil, no meaningful support for households or rural communities. And it didn't come close to addressing the problem. And then what happened? You walked away. You refused to recall the Dáil, as it didn't sit for 20 days. And all the while, households fell, faced soaring bills, while workers struggled to get to work. And farmers and contractors, they faced rising prices and input costs with no support from government. And we've seen businesses being pushed closer and closer to the edge. A failure, a dereliction of duty, leaving people with no option but to rise up and take to the streets. And instead of listening, instead of listening, what did Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael and the Independents do? You dismissed them. You talked down to them. You refused to meet them. You threatened them. You threatened the army on your own people. Families struggling to heat their homes, for God's sake. Workers struggling to get to work. Farmers and rural communities trying to keep going. And this government's instinct wasn't to help them. It was to threaten them. That's not leadership. That's arrogance. That's a government that's out of touch. And now, what are people being asked to have confidence in? A package that still doesn't make fuel affordable. A 10 cent cut in excise, gone with the next price increase. You outright refuse to cut carbon taxes. No removal of excise on home heat and oil at all. Nothing that fundamentally changes things for ordinary households or rural communities. No real relief for workers, for farmers or families. No support at all for disabled people. This is not a solution. It is a holding operation designed to contain the anger, not solve the problem. And you know something? People see right through it. So let me say what would actually build confidence. Cut excise on diesel to a level that makes it affordable and hold it there. Match that reduction with petrol. Remove carbon tax from home heat and oil. And do the same on green diesel to support our farmers and our contractors. And deliver real supports to households as well as sectors. And include in that the energy credits to make sure that people are supported with sky-high electricity costs. That's what real intervention looks like, folks. That's what leadership looks like. So I say to the so-called independents over there and to the backbenchers opposite in Fianna Fail and Fianna Gael, you know damn well what's happening in your communities. You're hearing it every single day. People are angry. And people are struggling. And people are being pushed to the limit here. Sinn Féin has brought their voice into this chamber. Now all of you have a choice. Either stand with Micheál Martin and Simon Harris or you stand with the ordinary Irish people. Because confidence isn't something you demand. It's something you earn. And this government has not earned it. It's ignored the warnings. It's allowed the crisis to escalate. It's responded too late. And even now it refuses to act decisively. I was elected by ordinary people. I speak out for ordinary people. And today I stand with ordinary people. And voting no confidence in this government. It's time for you to go.