Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and welcome the guests. It is good to have them in again. Obviously, our discussion is far more crucial now, given the timeframe we are in. As has been said earlier, Ireland, like most of Europe, is facing a difficult winter. Energy prices, particularly of natural gas, are a multiple of previous years.

Many of us in the Dáil, as the Minister will be aware, have warned about this situation arising and it is a pity more quick fixes were not initiated, particularly for households as we face the winter, particularly in respect of small-scale retrofitting. I note the Minister's statement about the figures having doubled on 2021, particularly for those on low incomes. However, if one looks at my own area in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, only 80 out of the 4,500 local authority-owned homes have been retrofitted. The window-and-door replacement programme is on hold until 2023. While progress has been made in terms of active travel, funding has gone back to the Exchequer in that county. That is merely an example of that area, as opposed to others. The Belgian Prime Minister said that we could be facing this crisis for five to ten years. I hope he is wrong but we obviously need to support retrofitting urgently over the next couple of months.

Businesses and households are facing are enormous costs and increases in prices and that is why there is much emphasis placed on budget 2023. We need to see greater increases and supports for those on fuel allowance and the continuation of reductions in VAT and duty.

In terms of additional consumer protections, while the existing ones are welcome I have serious concerns regarding what was being approved by the CRU. For example, people are being told that they should reduce their peak-time usage. That is understandable, given what we have been discussing. Suppliers such as SSE Airtricity plan to increase their off-peak rates by an eye-watering 62%. There is an anomaly in Ms MacEvilly's statement. At one point, Ms MacEvilly mentioned "an accelerated decline in the availability of the current generation fleet;" and yet she went on to refer to "the retention in service of older generators". Which is it? Is it that it is crumbling and cannot be used or is it going to be saved and continue to be used?

On the absence of smart meters and day-and-night meters in most households, the issue of peak and off-peak is problematic. Most consumers are on 24-hour electricity meters. It might be worthwhile considering a standard monthly allowance or tariff priced at a reasonable rate and give people the opportunity of a basic supply with graduated tariffs beyond that.

I have three questions for the Minister, two questions for the CRU and two for EirGrid. For the Minister, what is the Irish gas storage capacity at present? In the event - what we heard from EirGrid - of the gas rationing in the UK in the coming winter becoming a problem and considering exports through the Moffat pipeline to Ireland are likely to be rationed as a result, what emergency measures do we have here to mitigate any gas shortages? Today's edition of the Irish Independent, raises the issue about the Corrib gas field possibly continuing until 2036 and looking at renewable options.

Has the Minister met representatives of the indigenous industry since coming to office?

I have some questions for the CRU and EirGrid. EirGrid indicates the annual generation capacity statement is coming in the next couple of weeks and its representatives also highlighted that since 2017, EirGrid has identified via that statement increased tightness between supply and demand and inadequate generation capacity challenges.