Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

That is part of the problem. There is no proper understanding of the harsh realities of people's lives as they struggle with the income coming into the home. People are saying they are just not able to meet the bills that are coming through the door, and the biggest bills are the energy and fuel bills. This is a recipe for disaster. For people who are disabled, elderly or ill this will create a disaster in the coming months and, if the austerity measures continue, years.

Last year, the ESB disconnected 2,500 householders and Bord Gáis disconnected 4,000. Approximately 20 people per week are being disconnected by Bord Gáis at present. Is it not incredible that disconnection should cost €200 and reconnection a further €200? How can that be allowed by the Minister? The Minister authorises the Regulator. Without the Minister's permission the Regulator would not be in a position to impose those charges. They bear no relation to the cost of the disconnection or reconnection. What is the justification for them, other than that the Minister has no interest in the matter and is disregarding his position of responsibility in this area?

The Minister seems to be hell-bent on imposing his carbon tax. This is an excuse for a policy. There is no policy on climate change but there is a tax on carbon. That seems to be as far as the Minister can think about the matter. Other than that, his emphasis is on competition within the energy sector. The end result of this policy has been an increase in energy prices. Competition is supposed to mean a decrease but he has brought about an increase. Our energy costs are above the European average rather than below it.

In last year's budget the Minister for Finance promised the opposite of what he is doing. He said €50 million of the carbon tax yield would be used to fund measures such as help for households at risk of fuel poverty. What has happened to that? He went on to say local authorities would receive additional funding to retrofit the social housing stock. That is not happening. Local authorities are not getting money to conduct a proper programme. They are merely dealing with the voids. The building energy rating has to be dealt with when the voids come up for repair. In Dublin City Council, for example, that amounts to only a couple of hundred houses. Where is the programme to deal with retrofitting social housing? It is not there. The Minister then said this represents a significant boost to the plan to retrofit more than 1 million homes by 2025. That is not exactly the target that has been agreed with the European Union.

Re-branding is another indication that the Minister is totally out of touch with reality. The Minister's amendment describes re-branding as "a necessary part of deepening the EU internal market liberalisation process and enhancing competition in the national market, in the best interests of the consumers". Is €40 million for Bord Gáis and €40 million for the ESB in the best interests of the consumers? It is ludicrous to think about those utilities that are well branded as it is. I would expect no more from the Greens in matters of this nature because they have always been out of touch with reality but I would have thought Fianna Fáil would have had some cop-on. One would at least expect that given its tradition, it would have some concern for people in the less well off categories of society. Sadly, this is not happening at present.

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