Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

Fuel poverty has always been a major concern in my constituency. Every winter people contact me worrying about their ability to heat their homes and looking for advice on where they can get assistance. Last winter was particularly harsh and as the problem was far greater than had been experienced previously, we had to pay particular attention to the issue. Last January, we had a big freeze during which the country came to a standstill. People sought top-up deliveries of home heating oil and other heating fuels to ensure they could heat their homes adequately. For many people this additional expenditure put stresses on already tight budgets.

During this time of extreme weather conditions we were also reminded to keep an eye on our older relatives and neighbours. The reasons for this are the consequences of being cold and the knock-on health effects of inadequate heating which are well known, particularly with regard to the elderly. Last year, for perhaps the first time in a generation, we were also acutely aware of the effects of the recession on households. It was not only elderly pensioners and low-income families who were at risk of fuel poverty, it was also those who were coming face to face with the reality of the recession for the first time.

Traditionally, fuel poverty would have been considered an issue associated with lower income areas throughout the country. However, this recession is so widespread that fuel poverty is now a very real issue in households that were previously considered well off. Families who relied on two incomes to meet their financial commitments who never faced the prospect of not being able to adequately heat their homes throughout the winter but who have lost one of those incomes are now suddenly facing exactly this scenario.

In recent weeks, we were given an insight into the extent of the problem by presentations from the ESB and Bord Gais at an Oireachtas committee meeting. We heard from Bord Gais that every five minutes it enters into payment plans with customers who have fallen into arrears. We know that each month this year approximately 2,500 people have had the electricity supply to their homes disconnected. Figures from the Commission for Energy Regulation show that gas disconnections are running at a rate of approximately 20 per day. Disconnections are an absolute last resort when other measures have failed but while some of these figures can be accounted for through houses no longer being occupied as a result of persons leaving the country, the sheer number of disconnections is staggering. We know that approximately 60% of gas disconnections now take place in owner-occupied housing and this is a huge change.

Perhaps more worrying are the approximately 90,000 gas consumers experiencing debt difficulties. This may in large part refer to persons who have exhausted their savings after becoming unemployed, fallen into arrears on bills and are unable to pay off their arrears and meet their monthly outgoings at the same time. This is the real effect of long-term unemployment and it indicates that the rate of disconnections is therefore only the tip of the iceberg of what is clearly a crisis.

As my colleagues pointed out in recent days, the revised programme for Government promised a fuel poverty strategy by the end of 2009. However, here we are almost one year on and there is still no sign of it. How can the Government have been so negligent at a time of soaring unemployment with low-income families facing such financial pressures? How can the Government not consider this an urgent matter? In the intervening time we have seen the introduction of a carbon levy on home heating oil and the sanctioning of a 5% rise in ESB prices. The carbon levy was introduced despite the failure of the Government to deliver on promises by Ministers that arrangements would be made to assist those most at risk of fuel poverty before the levy was applied.

We have to consider the Government's priorities; we have spent more than two years debating every aspect of the banking crisis and it has consumed political life at the expense of almost all other issues. This is not to say that the banking crisis is unimportant; it is important, but the knock-on effect of that crisis is critical. It is precisely because of the banking crisis that we now find the country and the economy in the grip of a recession that affects everything from food on the table to payment of mortgages and the prospect of a miserable and freezing winter for many of whom we call the "new poor".

I find it inexcusable that an issue as important as fuel poverty, which forces people to choose between essentials like food and heat, is almost an afterthought for the Government. Why should we have to question the Government for not delivering a strategy that was plainly needed last winter and is nowhere to be seen as we face into this winter? Why, when the issue of fuel poverty is patently within our ability to resolve, do we have a Government which at best procrastinates on resolving the problem and at worst is remiss about it?

This issue must be considered in wider terms. In recent weeks we have seen an ESB price hike of 5%. This increase compounds the problems we already face in this area. However, not only does this increased cost affect those who have lost jobs or suffered wage reduction, it places additional costs on businesses and therefore affects the competitiveness of our economy, hampering efforts to start job growth. I fail to see the logic in this approach; either the Government is serious about these issues and adopts complementary policies to address them, or it operates conflicting policies that just make the situation worse.

That €35 million in grant aid set aside for crucial insulation schemes in 2009 was handed back just beggars belief. Measures to increase fuel efficiency, such as retrofitting homes with proper insulation, are absolutely necessary to tackle this issue. As well as long-term cost savings and better home heating, they provide employment in the most ravaged sector of the economy. Retrofitting homes is a labour-intensive job and its benefits are many, so why was this money in targeted grant aid not spent when it is clearly needed? I have met many construction workers throughout my constituency with a variety of skills who asked me about what was being done for them. These people want to work. This is an area where there is a clear need for investment, but when we allocate money for such projects it is not spent.

Fuel poverty is a problem throughout the country; surely it demands urgent and immediate attention. The Labour Party has proposed measures to tackle this problem, from a national retrofit programme to return unemployed construction workers to the workforce to implementing a fuel allowance scheme to alleviate the pressures on low-income households following the introduction of the carbon tax. These and other measures would more than offset their costs if implemented as a coherent strategy that addresses the issue of fuel poverty while providing long-term benefits in areas of efficiency, savings and tax revenue.

In the coming months, I fear we will see a much greater input from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and we must acknowledge the great work it does to support families in need, not only with regard to fuel poverty but in many other areas where there are huge demands in terms of household bills. It is simply not good enough for the Government to sit on its hands and let the Society of St. Vincent De Paul and MABS take over its responsibility.

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