Ken O'Flynn: 'Heating or Eating' - Families at Breaking Point
Ken O'Flynn thanked Sinn Féin for bringing a motion and warned that many families now face a stark choice between heating and eating. He described visits to homes in Cork, Dublin, Donegal and Galway and called on the Minister and government to make energy relief and schemes genuinely affordable.
Ken O'Flynn opens by endorsing the Sinn Féin motion and expresses surprise it was not adopted earlier. He frames the debate around rising energy hardship and criticises government inaction while calling for a more urgent response to households in arrears.
O'Flynn recounts meetings with constituents forced to keep children in bed longer or wrap themselves in blankets to avoid turning on heating. Those personal testimonies underline his claim that people across Cork, Dublin, Donegal, Galway and Kilkenny are choosing between heating and eating.
He highlights the scale of the problem - more than 300,000 people in arrears on ESB and gas - and questions the accessibility of renewable and retrofit schemes. O'Flynn says schemes that cost up to 16,000 euros while delivering only 2,000 euros in support are effectively unattainable for low-income households.
O'Flynn directly addresses the Minister, demanding attention and respect for affected families and urging a reassessment of support measures. He calls on the government to reduce costs and make relief realistic for those who cannot afford upfront investments in energy upgrades.
Speech summary
Ken O'Flynn opens by endorsing the Sinn Féin motion and expresses surprise it was not adopted earlier. He frames the debate around rising energy hardship and criticises government inaction while calling for a more urgent response to households in arrears.
On-the-ground testimony
O'Flynn recounts meetings with constituents forced to keep children in bed longer or wrap themselves in blankets to avoid turning on heating. Those personal testimonies underline his claim that people across Cork, Dublin, Donegal, Galway and Kilkenny are choosing between heating and eating.
Policy critique
He highlights the scale of the problem - more than 300,000 people in arrears on ESB and gas - and questions the accessibility of renewable and retrofit schemes. O'Flynn says schemes that cost up to 16,000 euros while delivering only 2,000 euros in support are effectively unattainable for low-income households.
Appeal to government
O'Flynn directly addresses the Minister, demanding attention and respect for affected families and urging a reassessment of support measures. He calls on the government to reduce costs and make relief realistic for those who cannot afford upfront investments in energy upgrades.
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Transcript
And I'd like to thank my colleagues from Sinn Féin for bringing forth this motion. I think it's a very, very good motion. It works quite well. I was kind of shocked when I was reading it, because I thought, God, you know, this is not something that should have been done a long time ago by previous governments. But I welcome it in that sense. Look, the reality is that the cliché in this house that we have every member using the phrase, I think, heating and eating. But that is the truth, Minister. That is what's happening in Cork, Dublin, Donegal, Galway, Kilkenny, anywhere in the country. People are choosing between heating and eating. Recently, I visited a gentleman's house where they had one bar on the fire, wrapped in blankets, and he's afraid to turn on the heating in his house. I have so many families that are leaving their kids in bed late on the Saturday and on the Sunday to ensure that they don't have to turn on the heating in the house, because that's how difficult and how tough it is for them. Minister, I know you're scrolling through your phone. I'm sure you're very busy there. But the other thing is that... Well, I'd like you to listen to me, and I'd like you to pay attention, Minister, if that's OK. It's just a small... I'm only asking for a small bit of respect. And I have a small bit of respect for the Count as well. But... Thank you. Thank you, and you will reply, and you'll have your opportunity to reply. Fine. But the reality is that there are people in this country who have never been worse off. For a country that your government goes out and says every day of the week, Oh, we're doing fantastic. Give us a clap on the back because we have this deficit and that deficit. You can't eat a deficit. There's people choosing now to turn on their heating and eating, and you're not listening to them. You have 300,000-plus people in arrears in this country when it comes to their ESB and when it comes to their gas. There's something wrong with that. There's something fundamentally wrong in a country, in a First World country, where people are in significant arrears. And as a government, you seem to be completely not listening, not understanding. I don't know if you're knocking on the same doors in Galway or Dublin that we're knocking on, but the doors we're knocking on are people who are telling us straight out, We can't take any more. We're sick to death of it, and this is the final cut, and we can't keep on going. Minister, I would appeal to you and I'd appeal to your government to look at reducing, and as my colleague has just said here about the schemes that are available and renewable schemes that you're saying continuously are fantastic and marvellous. Minister, the truth is that you'll want a ball of money under the bed before you're able to avail of these schemes. Some of these schemes cost 16,000 euros and you're only getting 2,000 euros back. It's ridiculous. It doesn't make sense. .