Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann, noting that:

— electricity prices increased by almost 5% from 1st October, 2010;

— there is a significant pressure from this electricity price increase on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) experiencing financial hardship and households dependent on low incomes;

— electricity disconnections have increased to an alarming level of approximately 2,500 every month;

— similarly gas disconnections have risen to 20 disconnections a day with approximately 90,000 customers experiencing debt difficulties;

— there is a changing demographic of those in fuel poverty as indicated by research that shows that approximately 60% of gas disconnections taking place are in owner occupied housing;

— €35 million in grant aid set aside for crucial insulation schemes in 2009 was handed back, unspent, to the Department of Finance;

— the cost of disconnections and reconnections as levied on the customer is prohibitive in many cases;

— the Minister for Finance stated that the revenue from the carbon tax would, in part, be used to alleviate fuel poverty yet he has failed to deliver on this promise;

— the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has so far failed to enable the allocation of funding promised by the Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Carbon Revenue Levy) Act 2010 to large energy users; and

— the Minister for Finance has failed to implement a vouched fuel allowance scheme, as promised in Budget 2010;

calls on the Government to:

— publish a fuel poverty strategy as a matter of urgency in view of the Programme for Government commitment that it would be 'published by the end of 2009';

— adopt the Fuel Poverty and Energy Conservation Bill as published by the Labour Party in 2008;

— scrap the plan by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) to insist on the rebranding of Bord Gáis and ESB, which Bord Gáis alone estimate will cost it €40 million, a cost to be borne by the consumer;

— direct the CER to implement a zero disconnection policy through the use of prepayment meters and to develop an acceptable policy in relation to disconnection fees;

— implement a National Retrofit Programme as a matter of urgency, with payment plans which will ensure participation from all sections of society, not just those with disposable incomes and to ensure that all moneys allocated are actually spent;

— ring-fence funds raised through the carbon tax to combat fuel poverty in line with commitments given by the Minister for Finance;

— consider extending the carbon revenue levy to SMEs;

— implement a vouched fuel allowance scheme to offset the financial pressures on low income households following the introduction of the carbon tax on 1st May, 2010, as promised by the Minister for Finance; and

— extend a National Retrofit Programme to public buildings, including schools and hospitals in order to bring unemployed construction workers into the workforce and enable apprentices to complete their apprenticeships, in line with Government commitments for 33% energy saving across the public sector by 2020.

I wish to share my time with Deputies Upton and Ferris.

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