Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has called on the Government to reinstate energy credits, warning that people are "anxious and scared" about the bills which are going to land this winter.
She said the Government had failed to end the rip-off by energy companies, but now needed to act and help vast numbers of people who are struggling in the face of the cost of living crisis.
The Dublin Central TD told the Dáil that this was only part of the Government failure which included increasing school level fees by €500 and allowing petrol, diesel and home heating prices to spike.
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he disagreed with Sinn Féin's analysis, saying that energy credits would have gone to "millionaires" and this Government had decided to target those who needed the assistance the most.
Regarding school costs, he said the free book school scheme had been a radical intervention by the Coalition.
On energy costs, he said the Government had reduced VAT on gas and electricity until 2030, substantially increased the number of people who qualify for the fuel allowance and then increased the weekly payment.
Labour leader Bacik criticises Government's housing plan
Labour leader Ivana Bacik has said she believes Government has "confessed to the locked out generation that it's out of ideas by simply asking them to hang in there" when it comes to housing.
Speaking during the latest Dáil leaders questions debate, Deputy Bacik said the Coalition's latest housing plan which was published last week is "nothing more than old milk in new bottles".
The Labour leader said the new plan has "abandoned" people trying to buy a home and is "an open door for developers" because it does not contain yearly targets, saying "when you scrap metrics you scrap accountability".
She added that Government was in her view forced into "a dramatic climbdown" on Monday in the High Court over its summer plan to reduce apartment sizes and the number of windows needed, saying no one wants to live in "shoe boxes and grotty bedsits".
Responding to the criticism, Mr Martin said "I reject 100% your false narrative on Government housing".
He said in his view Labour and other Opposition's parties only position on Government housing policy is "whatever Government proposes you oppose".
He said Labour has put forward "vagueness" in its response to Government housing policy, and said the opposition party has opposed the "reform of rent pressure zones", saying "you opposed that too because you just want to be popular all the time".
Deputy Bacik responded to the Taoiseach's suggestion she was misrepresenting Government policy by telling the Taoiseach "I reject your false representation of what I have said".
The Labour leader noted that the Taoiseach "didn't mention the size of apartments" which he had been asked about, to which the Taoiseach responded "you keep opposing everything, will you come off it".
Cairns criticises Government for removing annual housing targets in plan
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has accused the Government of avoiding accountability by removing annual housing targets from its housing plan.
Speaking during Leaders' Questions, Ms Cairns said the Taoiseach had "cynically" misled the public about how many homes the Government delivered in the lead up to the general election last year.
She said Mr Martin did this to give the impression that the Government was turning the corner on housing delivery.
"In reality, you were driving it off a cliff," she told the Dáil.
Ms Cairns said that Mr Martin said 40,000 homes would be delivered in 2024, when in reality it was 33,300.
"You have been consistently moving the goalposts when it comes to housing targets. And now in the most blatant move to avoid accountability yet, you have elected to take the goalposts off the pitch entirely," she said.
Ms Cairns said the Government has not only removed annual targets from the housing plan, but had also given an overall target that goes beyond the lifetime of the current Government.
Responding, Mr Martin said the Government had set a target of 300,000 over the lifetime of the housing plan.
He said that under the previous Housing for All plan, the Government had exceeded targets, but that the problem for Opposition then was that the targets were not high enough.
Mr Martin said in order to reach an annual figure of 50,000 homes being built a year, private sector funding was needed, which the plan allowed for.
"You've never put any flesh on the bone of anything you've ever proposed, you're bereft of policy," Mr Martin said.
