Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)

I look my age. What is the Minister of State's excuse?

Apart from improving the energy efficiency of homes, there is the overall issue of cost. Obviously, as with the inability to meet the cost of anything, income is the key issue and we all are aware of why people's incomes are under such pressure at present. I will park that for the moment.

There are other major contributory factor. Actual energy cost is something that can and should be addressed by the State. We have seen significant increases in energy prices imposed by the main suppliers with the result that energy costs take up a greater proportion of household budgets. That is happening to so many people. I concur with Members from the Government side of the House that during the election of February of this year when the winter was terrible, one of the most striking aspects was that those in the low to middle-income bracket found themselves turning on their heating for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening because they could not afford any more. Another striking aspect is that those who had oil or kerosine heating in their homes no longer fill their tanks because they cannot afford to do so. They go out with five gallon drums to buy ten or 15 gallons of kerosine so that they can have hot water and heat their homes for a limited period of the day. It is a terrible indictment of the system. Significant price increases are taking up a greater percentage of household budgets. This is true for all sectors of society, including business, but it is particularly the case for those in receipt of social welfare payments and the working poor on the minimum wage or close to it, for whom basic costs such as food and energy inevitably comprise a much higher proportion of their household budgets than they do for those on higher incomes. This matter can and ought to be directly addressed by the State as part of any programme to address fuel poverty. Through the regulator, the State should refuse requests for price increases on the basis of the overall social and economic costs as opposed to the short-term possible falls in income on the part of the suppliers who have in any event done well in recent years in terms of profits.

See this speech in context