Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the past few minutes I have been sitting in the Chamber the focus has been on the tension between Ukraine and Russia and the huge impact it is having. We think back to stories we heard about the Cuban crisis and the standoff there was there between the United States and Russia in the early 1960s.

In the few brief minutes I have I wish to focus on the huge impact this is having on people's economic lives in this country and on energy costs. What can we do to alleviate the hardship that is happening at the moment and the continuing crisis that energy costs and the way they have spiralled will impact every household and every business in this country? The most vulnerable in society will feel electricity costs the worst. Whether it is heating oil, diesel for the car or electricity, there has been huge inflation in recent months. In every industry, whether hospitality, manufacturing or whatever else, the spiralling energy costs will have a huge inflationary effect that will be felt by all sectors of society. I was talking to a publican the other night. He is very glad to have his pub reopened but says his electricity bill has gone up by 250%. After an extremely difficult two years, this will be a huge economic burden for publicans.

Last week, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, of which I am Chairman, was briefed by Mr. Fabien Santini of the European Commission on what the Commission intends to do on energy costs. Specifically, we were focusing on the cost of fertiliser to the agri sector. I definitely got the impression at the meeting that the Commission is not overly concerned and feels the matter will sort itself out. If the usage of chemical fertiliser dropped by 15%, 20% or 25%, the Commission would not shed too many tears. However, it has far more implications than that. First of all, we see food inflation at the moment. I think we are going to have food inflation definitely in excess of 25%. There has been no recognition of what impact it is going to have on the poorer nations of the world. There are 800 million people currently in starvation in a famine situation. There are 2 billion more living on an inadequate diet. If there is a curtailment of food production, those countries are going to feel it the worst. We will have many more people in a starvation situation around the world.

Food security was one of the key cornerstones of EU policy for a long time. It is something that I have not heard mentioned for a long time. I think we will start to hear it again. Food security is going to become an important cog of policy once more. The cost of the production of food is going to increase dramatically this year. There is an onus on us to ensure that the underprivileged in world society do not feel the greatest brunt of it and that we do not end up in a situation where there are billions of people around the globe who are starving because of this energy crisis. It is beyond our control as a country to solve, but in my view, it is not beyond the control of the EU to try and resolve the issue and reduce the cost of energy. It will affect the most vulnerable in world society.

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