Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be taking eight minutes. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. People are facing real hardship in their day-to-day lives with inflation and runaway living costs The Government has sat on its hands and allowed the cost-of-living crisis to grow, and indeed it has contributed to it. Rents have been spiralling out of control for years and the Government has done nothing. The Government has failed to address high childcare costs for parents and inflation is outpacing wage growth to no end. Each year the Government hikes tax on energy and then wonders why people are struggling to heat their homes. These policy failures are now coming together into a crippling cost-of-living crisis. The Government is completely out of touch with reality and is either unwilling or unable to take the necessary action to tackle the costs that are having a detrimental impact on workers and families across the State.

Of course the €100 electricity discount is welcome, but it will not make a dent in the financial challenge households are facing. It does not go far enough. Everyone knows that, including apparently the Government, if leaks from parliamentary party meetings in morning news reports are anything to go by. The Tánaiste acknowledged as much on Leaders' Questions earlier. Budget 2022 did not go far enough to protect people. The Government says it is making plans to do something about it. There has been talk from the Government to the effect of "If we knew then what we know now", but the truth is the Government did know then what it knows now because Sinn Féin and many others were shouting it from the rooftops. I raised it with the Minister of State three times in the previous term alone on Priority Questions, starting in July. Sinn Féin's alternative budget set out enhanced payments in social welfare, fuel allowance and a utility debt discretionary fund. The Government failed to heed any of it. The EU introduced its toolkit in October in recognition of the crisis and giving a green light to do something about it. Two months later, in the days before Christmas, the Government said it had a plan. Here we are on 3 February hoping that people might get grace to the value of €100 in a month or two. Families are in crisis and it is deepening one. When someone sounds the alarm in October you do not respond by saying I will see you in March or April. We know that inflation hits the poorest hardest and that the CSO's data are not reflective of this. We do not have accurate data on fuel poverty because this Government and that which preceded it failed to design measures for it. Anyone who bothers to listen knows that families have been put to the pin of their collars and beyond. They are in crisis and this Government knowingly delayed action. The €100 is welcome but it does not go anywhere near far enough. Much more needs to be done to help people. This Bill, if suitably amended, can act as a start, albeit a very late one.

We in Sinn Féin are not happy with the current draft of the Bill and we have submitted numerous amendments for consideration on Committee Stage. In the first instance, we are concerned that this Bill is drafted in such a way as to permit only one payment. That does not reflect the crisis we are in. A once-off discount is short-sighted and it is clear that more needs to be done. There are no indications that the energy price hikes are going to stop any time soon. With political instability in Ukraine and Russia, international gas prices could increase further this year. Our amendments would give the Minister power to make further payments to households, removing the need for more primary legislation down the line and ensuring that it could be done quickly.

We also want to see the Minister target these payments to households who need it most. The lack of targeting is a major weakness. This Bill is a very blunt instrument that will see millions of euro transferred to individuals who, relatively speaking, have no financial worries. It will see millionaires and others who do not need financial help get €100 from the taxpayer, while those who really need extra help will, in real and relative terms, still be below the water. We would like to see provision for those who want to forgo the payment have the option of surrendering their payment to a charity that supports and helps those living in energy poverty. It is far from an ideal approach, but it is an attempt to make this legislation better, by trying to direct payments to those most in need.

We believe holiday homes should be excluded. We cannot have a situation where a person who is lucky enough to own two homes gets €200 while a family living on the bread line can only access half that amount.

I welcome some of the comments made by the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, but we believe protection is needed for renters in this Bill. Some tenants' energy bills are managed by their landlord or a property management company. We do not want to see a situation where the credit is applied to bills but the savings are not passed on to the tenant. Sinn Féin has put forward an amendment seeking to ensure the €100 payment is passed on to renters and providing for a right to access a dispute mechanism.

On a related point, I draw the Minister of State's attention to the issue of Travellers' access to the €100 credit. Will the Minister outline how this credit will apply to Travellers living on halting sites? The local authorities are the electricity account holder in many cases and families make payments to their local authorities. Perhaps the Minister of State will revert to me on that later.

Sinn Féin calls on the Minister of State to engage with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on the level of need for assistance with heating and electricity costs it is experiencing to ascertain the need for a discretionary fund to assist those in utility debt and target those who need additional support most. We called for such a discretionary fund in budget 2022 in addition to proposing to allocate €30 million to extend the fuel allowance eligibility. Like other positive proposals, however, it was not taken on board.

I look forward to the Committee Stage debate. I encourage the Minister of State and Department to take on board Opposition proposals. There is an opportunity to improve on the legislation. Sinn Féin will put forward constructive amendments, as will others in the Opposition. The Minister of State and Department should take them on board.

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