Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The purpose of the CPCC is to make markets work better for consumers and businesses. I understand this legislation is to strengthen and to ensure the proper functioning of international markets. Two international markets are not working. Our pig industry is on its knees, and it will be lucky to survive in its present form. Surely the CPCC can step in to ensure the industry will survive. In France, across all food sectors, the origin of meat is visible to consumers. Why not in Ireland? People look for Irish products all over the world, but we do have not have such visibility at home. Irish pig farmers engage continually with Bord Bia to produce the best product on the market, yet they cannot compete with the below-cost-selling of products produced by people in other countries. Dog meat is more expensive now than our top-quality foods. Pig farmers are losing an amount that translates to €37.84 per pig, according to Teagasc. Feedstuffs, fuel and energy costs account for a major portion of their fixed overheads. They just cannot compete.

My next point concerns a service agreement with our phone companies. I meet people every day who have continuing issues with their phone providers. They call the customer support centres, but they are totally inadequate and unable to deal with the simplest of queries. Rural Ireland has a poor broadband service and the people in those areas are at the mercy of these providers. ComReg gets involved, but the level of stress caused by these companies is harmful to people and businesses.

We have also seen the lack of fertiliser supplies, as well as the rising cost. I refer to all the legislation and regulation the Government is bringing in. This is a case of supply and demand, but the Government must support the farmers. Nitrogen is needed early in the year because the temperature of the ground here means that farming cannot work without it. If the Government does not support farmers, we will end up with a lower intake of grass, which in turn will mean a lower output of milk. This situation will work out across the food markets and then we could end up with food shortages in Ireland. Therefore, the Government needs to stand up and ensure the farmers get the reward they need to keep them going and to keep us fed. The Government must subsidise the farmers for the cost of fertiliser.

My next point relates to the retrofitting scheme that was launched yesterday by the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communication, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I represented the Rural Independent Group at the launch. The document that was produced, and which I had in front of me, contained a breakdown of the different grant schemes which are going to be available, including examples of how much it would cost in various cases. For example, in the scenario where it cost €50,000 for a full retrofit of a house, the scheme would provide €23,500 of a grant. I asked the representatives of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, when this document with all the facts on it was printed. I was told that the paperwork associated with the examples of retrofitting of houses was done in October 2021. Does the Minister of State know that there have been four price increases since then? That equates to an overall increase of 17% in the cost of retrofitting. Therefore, in the context of the percentage of the grant available, a person who undertook a retrofitting project worth €50,000 in October 2021 will have to pay €60,000 for the same work to be done now. In addition, this retrofitting scheme is not coming into operation until the autumn, so we will have a couple of additional price increases by then.

Where are all these price increases coming from? They are coming from anything oil-based. I get this information from a weekly data sheet because I am in construction. Insulation materials that are oil- or silicon-based have seen the price increase every month since October 2021. I can tell the Minister of State now, in the context of the retrofitting scheme launched yesterday, that the grants must be increased in line with the rate of inflation in the cost of materials. The scheme sets out that a house retrofitting project costing €50,000 will get a maximum grant of €23,500. If the cost to retrofit the same house rises to €60,000, the Government must increase the grant aid in line with what the retrofit project is costing. That is common sense.

I ask that neither I nor the public be given public paperwork that is out of date. The real facts and figures should be provided. I say that because if the grants are not raised to match the cost of the retrofitting, the people paying for these projects will no longer have an €83 saving per month. Instead, retrofitting a house will mean that people undertaking such projects will, in the context of that approximately €80 per month over the course of a 20-year loan, see the current figure for the associated cost rise from €50, which is what is in the document, to €70 over the next 20 years. I ask the Government not to lie to the public and to put current facts out there.

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