Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)

I am in agreement with the Deputies. There is an essential need for the Government to intervene. I cannot see anything positive coming out of the process here, whereby stakeholders will make further submissions by 1 March. We are going around the house and back to square one again. The importance of this cannot be over-emphasised. We are being told on a weekly basis about our high energy costs for attracting industry and maintaining businesses. Our electricity costs are enormously high even to the householder when compared to the European average.

Perhaps we need to look at EU legislation and regulations. We need to circumvent this in some way, and that is what government is for. We are here as elected representatives for our county, and this is one of the most essential matters that has come before the House in the past 12 months. We should examine every avenue possible to find ways and means to overcome the impasse. There is a huge responsibility on all of us to reach a resolution as soon as possible. Time is of the essence and I ask the Minister and the Government to examine this.

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