Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

To deny climate change is to bury one's head in the sand. We have seen the hottest September on record and wildfires from the Amazon to Siberia. Climate change is real and it is here.

To say that this increase is a rural versus city issue is wrong. There are people in Cherry Orchard and other working class estates who are freezing cold tonight because the €100 that was forwarded to them during the lockdown by An Bord Gáis is being taken back from them for their card meters at a rate of 60%. They top up a card meter by €20 and get €8 back. People cannot sustain that sort of attack. With the increase next year, there will be a hefty increase in their energy bills. We are hitting the wrong source. We made this point throughout the committee's discussions. This and the previous Governments have never conducted research into fuel poverty and energy poverty in rural and urban Ireland. It needs to be done before this Government even contemplates hitting the wrong source instead of global corporations.

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