Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

To be clear about what I said, the point I made was that purchasing houses would be a one-off measure that would save us money. We are paying out a €1 billion in RAS and HAP payments, increasingly to these international investment funds. Would it not be better if we just bought the stuff instead of the funds buying it? We could then deliver public and affordable housing. For every home the State bought, not only would it be able to house people and give them a secure place to live but it would save money in terms of current expenditure. That would be a prudent use of this bonanza of profits. It does not rely on the future profitability of those companies.

Does the current situation not give the Minister pause for thought about the danger of energy supply being dependent on companies that operate on a for-profit basis? Does it not give him pause for thought that a lot of the renewable energy resources being developed around the country will be owned by private companies, many of which are not even from this country and have absolutely no commitment or requirement to provide affordable energy, or provide us with energy at all, if it is not profitable for them?