Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to address this long-awaited legislation today. The prolonged delay has been very disconcerting, particularly against the backdrop of our persistent cost-of-living crisis. As other Senators said, energy prices in Ireland rank among the highest in Europe, with households facing an average bill of more than €2,000 annually, and little respite in sight. Shockingly, one in three Irish people grapple with energy poverty, a situation that is astounding in a thriving economy.

In 2023, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul reported a staggering 50% surge in requests for energy-related assistance, underscoring the dire circumstances that people are facing. Regrettably, Ireland's living standards continue to lag behind other European nations, a trend that has persisted for nearly a decade since the Fine Gael assumed power. Today, we find ourselves in the lower half of the European league table. The pressing question is how can we reverse this trend when the Government repeatedly delays the necessary actions to provide relief to our households. These are not mere statistics; they are a stark portrayal of millions of ordinary families struggling to cope with exorbitant energy bills, soaring living costs and escalating mortgage payments and rents.

The European Union introduced this regulation as an emergency measure, agreed upon in October last year. It should have been promptly implemented yet, 12 months later, it still has not been implemented. The Government's approach to this legislation hardly reflects the urgency of an emergency. The first draft of the Bill emerged in March, with pre-legislative scrutiny completed in May. However, just before the summer recess, the Minister made the unexpected announcement that he was going to split the Bill, leaving us with a weakened temporary solidarity contribution scheme. The legislation to cap market revenues, which could have addressed excessive profits in 2022, only emerged at the end of August. The Government defends these delays by citing the complexity of the legislation. Are we to believe that the other 20 European countries that proceeded swiftly were able to manage it while Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Green Party seemed to lag behind? Whether due to negligence or incompetence, the Government seems dispassionate about the plight of ordinary families.

Shockingly, the legislation falls short of addressing the peak profits from 2022, leaving these exorbitant earnings untouched. These are the profits to which Senator McGahon referred. They were made amid a devastating war, an unprecedented global pandemic and a severe cost-of-living crisis. The Government's claim that it cannot introduce retrospective measures is unsubstantiated. This measure is already retrospective since it is now October and the legislation will apply from December 2022 to June of this year. Other EU countries, such as Greece, France, and Belgium, have successfully applied it retrospectively. There are more equitable and effective approaches to address this issue, as other EU members have demonstrated.

To exacerbate the situation, the delays in implementation mean that we are on the verge of losing almost €2 billion in potential revenue, which could have been instrumental in alleviating the burden of soaring energy costs for families. This loss is even more frustrating considering that these figures do not factor in the potential revenue from extending the measure beyond June, as many other EU states have done. Furthermore, the Bill offers no clear guidance on how this revenue will be used, raising concerns about whether it will be directed toward the intended relief for struggling households and businesses. Corporations should not be permitted to excessively profit from the difficulties faced by ordinary people. The Government must be held accountable for this shortcoming.

We are on the brink of losing almost €2 billion in prospective revenue. This revenue could have been directed towards alleviating the escalating costs of energy for families. The initial estimate when this was floated stood at €1.9 billion. This has now dwindled to a range of between €280 million and €600 million. What compounds this frustration is the fact that these figures do not encompass the potential revenue that could be accrued by extending the measure beyond June. As I have said, this has been adopted by several other EU member states.

Ireland continues to grapple with high energy prices, with a rate of decrease significantly slower than the rest of the eurozone. The Government's assertion of being bound by regulation is hard to swallow. The European Commission, representatives of which came before the Oireachtas joint committee, explicitly stated that member states have flexibility in implementing the windfall measure, as has been demonstrated by other EU countries.

The Government needs to take more substantial action to address the turmoil in the energy markets, instead of making hollow promises and leaving ordinary people to bear the brunt. It is as plain as day that the Government has never been wholeheartedly supportive of a windfall tax. Its primary focus has consistently been on safeguarding the profits of powerful energy companies, often at the expense of ordinary workers and families.

Despite growing concerns about anticompetitive practices and profiteering in the energy market, the Government has failed to equip the Commission for Regulation of Utilities to be an effective regulator and give it the teeth that it requires. Our energy system is in disarray, marked by increased coal consumption, a sharp decline in renewable energy, and the looming threat of power shortages. The expansion of data centres has gone unchecked, and we have seen three more getting planning permission in north County Dublin. Even if they do have purchase power agreements this means that renewable energy is not available to households so they can benefit from its lower cost. It means that companies such as Amazon Web Services benefit from cheaper renewable energy while households will be required to fall back on expensive fossil fuel energy instead.

We look forward to engaging on the Bill. I did not pick up, because I was in the Chair, on what the Minister said about the proposed amendment he will table in the Seanad. It does not appear to be in the copy of the speech I have. If we could get a copy of the amendment, it would be very helpful for those of us who want to engage on the Bill.