‘A brazen rip-off in plain sight’ – Woman (94) sees home heating bill jump €400 in a week, Dáil hears

‘A brazen rip-off in plain sight’ – Woman (94) sees home heating bill jump €400 in a week, Dáil hears

Senan Molony

A 94-year-old woman who relies on home heating oil has seen a half-fill of oil from her provider jump from €464 last week to €879 today, the Dáil heard.

Mary Lou McDonald, leader of Sinn Féin, said she had been contacted by the Wexford woman today.

“And of course the price surge is also hitting motorists. at the pumps, people are reporting increases as high as 10c on the litre since this onslaught began. Companies are clearly taking advantage,” Deputy McDonald told the Dáil.

The Taoiseach had said price-gouging should not happen, but companies were “free to jack up their prices because they know nothing will happen,” Ms McDonald said.

Micheál Martin said that “typically it should be three or four weeks after a particular event” that prices translate onto the forecourt.

There had been a long lead-in to price rises at the pump during the Ukraine crisis, he said. “People should not take advantage” of the current situation, he added. “There should be no increase “

He then went into a defence of carbon tax and a reference to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), before the main Opposition leader cut back with criticism of his “exposition of the fact that you’ve done nothing.”

Ivana Bacik said the Government could cap the price of home heating oil by issuing an order.

She had also been contacted by a member of the public on the issue. The person, who was complaining in an email about home heating oil, “had to pause before she pressed send, because prices had gone up again.”

She said the Taoiseach was leading “a bystander Government, a Government that just shrugs.”

Mr Martin replied that the Government had taken the most steps in Europe in terms of cushioning the effect for citizens after the Ukraine invasion. “Price caps generally don’t work,” he added.

“We will keep everything under review,” the Taoiseach said. “We appreciate the pressures that people are under.”

The CCPC was there to ensure that price-gouging did not happen and that “unfair advantage” was not taken of people, Mr Martin added.

He then rehearsed Budget adjustments for the most vulnerable from last Autumn, but did not address any possible Government measures to meet the Middle East crisis.

Ms McDonald pointed out that the cost of home heating oil was already high, but people now “really can’t believe what they’re seeing” in terms of price rises.

While Ms Bacik put the rise since the weekend at 40pc, Ms McDonald said they had “almost doubled in just days.”

The “extortionate” hike had put the 94-year-old Wexford woman under huge pressure, “but her options are either pay up or go cold. “

People on radio stations were telling of the price of home heating oil “shooting up sharply in real time,” but the Government was doing nothing about it.

The Taoiseach wasn’t “picking up the phone to call in the oil companies,” she said, and providers had jacked up their prices by hundreds of, euros and in “blatant price-gouging, and greed.”

The Sinn Féin leader said: “It’s a brazen rip-off happening in plain sight.”