Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are all aware of the issue of fuel poverty, on which measures have been introduced in other jurisdictions. For example, up the road in the North the Administration is sending cheques to people who fall into the fuel poverty category. This will exacerbate the issue of fuel poverty, which is a serious concern. For a large number of people, burning coal in the fire is the only option to keep themselves warm in the evenings. Even though they may have central heating in their houses, oil is too expensive. Instead of heating their entire house, people have decided to burn a bag of coal to keep their sitting room warm until they go to bed at night. Many houses do not have modern central heating systems which allow regulation of different zones and where individual radiators can be regulated to turn off heat, as appropriate. If we were to look at the issue of carbon tax and trying to reduce the emission of CO2, we should be trying to support people in such cases and allow them to upgrade their existing systems. Only at that time should we consider an increase in carbon tax.

For many people, this is their only option. We have heard all the horror stories in the past, including of people sitting in front of their ovens trying to keep warm and so on. Fuel poverty is a real issue. This increase taken in conjunction with the reductions during the past number of years in social welfare payments, including the fuel allowance, will hurt those living in fuel poverty. This Bill does not address the issue of fuel poverty and may in fact increase it.