Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)

Fianna Fáil will be supporting the Bill. This is a technical Bill which brings forward the end date of the carbon revenue levy period from 31 December 2012 to the date of enactment of this Bill. As the Minister stated, the need for this legislation arose out of a recent Supreme Court judgment which found against the regulator's prohibition in respect of the bidding in by generators of the carbon revenue levy to the wholesale price of electricity in the single electricity market. As a consequence of that judgment, generators will henceforth bid-in the cost of the levy, with potential impact on prices for the duration of the levy, which, under the 2010 Act, was due to cease at the end of 2012 but which the Minister is proposing in this legislation to bring forward.

I agree with the Minister's statement that we must take every measure possible to address our competitiveness. We know only too well to our detriment that we have suffered a severe loss in our competitiveness over a number of years, culminating in a large number of company withdrawals and resultant job losses in our economy. Much of this was driven by the increases which we have experienced in energy costs. Unfortunately, many of the companies that withdrew provided manufacturing-type jobs. For example, the withdrawal of Dell from Limerick, which cited as its reason for withdrawing that the region had become uncompetitive for its business model. There are signs that we are regaining our competitiveness. However, we must do all we can to ensure a return to competitiveness at a quicker pace.

On energy prices in general, the Government has failed to deal with rising energy prices. The provision of secure, sustainable and competitive energy supplies is critical for the economy, business and families. While the Government will point to global gas and oil prices rising sharply since the start of 2011 driven by events in North Africa and Japan and high demand from China, India and other emerging economies, its inaction on rising energy prices has been disappointing. The Government should sit down with energy companies to explore every possible alternative method of managing costs to hitting customers with substantial price hikes. Increases in energy prices will be a cause of great concern to the tens of thousands of families who are already in arrears and who simply cannot afford them. As public representatives, we are all aware that rising energy costs, in particular in respect of family homes, is a cause of serious concern. A recent survey by the Irish League of Credit Unions indicates that one in four people cannot cope with rising energy costs, 15% of people have had to dip into their savings to deal with them and 8% are unable to cover household bills. These figures show just how hard the ordinary people of Ireland are being hit by increasing household expenses. Impending increases to energy bills will hit families hard, with households concerned they will not be able to adequately heat their homes over the winter.

Despite the Government's rhetoric about energy efficiency and renewables to reduce our dependence and vulnerability to global price increases in such fuels, energy price hikes are hitting the most vulnerable the hardest.

From November 2010 to November 2011, the following price increases were noted by the SEAI: natural gas was up in the order of 12% to 20%; gas oil was up 21%; bulk propane was up 16%; kerosene, up by 28%; coal down by 3%; and briquettes up by 1%.

Returning to the subject of the Bill, I refer to carbon and the climate change crisis. The world's soaring carbon dioxide emissions remain the elephant in the atmosphere. They are the single biggest contributor to rising temperatures, will remain in the atmosphere for 100 years and, unless drastic action is taken to mitigate them, costly and dangerous climate change will not be averted. I am, and always have been, an avid believer in the need for radical action to address the climate change crisis. We need to be more broad-based in our approach to the problem. In this regard, it is disappointing that the Government has abandoned the Climate Change Bill. More specifically, I was disappointed that the Government reversed a policy which promoted cleaner cars. The decision to increase certain motor taxationrates was an act of regression which flies in the face of measures being taken globally to tackle fuel emissions.

To reduce carbon emissions, enhance the environment, help produce a cleaner environment, tackle climate change and promote energy efficiency, the previous Government introduced various incentives. This policy worked. Those who bought fuel-efficient cars did so on the basis that there would be certainty and consistency in the motor taxation regime. We have now seen this policy reversed, which is disappointing. The correct pricing of carbon is important as part of tackling the climate change crisis.

I urge the Minister and his colleagues in Government to take every measure available to them, in particular sitting down as often as they can with the energy providers, to try to effect a real knock-on in savings to the end user, especially hard-pressed families and households.

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