Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá oibrithe agus teaghlaigh go fóill ag dul i ngleic le boilsciú ollmhór praghsanna agus is gá le freagra práinneach ón Rialtas ar an ngéarchéim sa chostas maireachtála. Níl seo níos soiléire ná nuair atáimid ag déileáil le costas fuinnimh. An tseachtain seo caite, d’fhógair Energia ardú praghsanna ar a gcustaiméirí agus inné d’fhógair Electric Ireland, an soláthraí leictreachais is mó sa Stát, go mbeidh siad ag ardú an praghas leictreachais 25% agus an praghas gáis 23%, rud a chuirfidh €518 le billí bliantúla teaghlaigh.

Workers and families continue to contend with massive price inflation and they face an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis that demands an urgent response from the Government. Nowhere is this more evident than in energy costs. Last week, Energia announced a price increase for its customers. That was the fourth price hike announced by Energia in the past year. It came just a week after Bord Gáis Energy announced a massive price increase that will add €775 to yearly household energy bills. Yesterday, Electric Ireland, the largest electricity provider in the State, announced it would be increasing its electricity prices by 23% and gas prices by 25%. That will add €518 to yearly bills of householders who are struggling already. This comes after 35 energy price increases announced last year. However, the only announcements we hear on energy prices are from the providers who are repeatedly hiking up their prices. We hear nothing from the Minister with responsibility for energy. We have heard no measures from him that would reduce the bills of workers and families. Without action, low and middle-income households will bear the brunt of price hikes that they simply cannot afford.

We all recognise the external factors driving up the wholesale cost of energy and that not all price hikes can be eliminated. However, the Minister can and must do much more. Sinn Féin has already outlined to the Minister what could be done. For five months, we have been calling on the Government to engage with the European Commission to reduce VAT on household energy bills for a period. In response to a parliamentary question, the Minister for Finance has informed me that he only wrote to the Commission on this matter two weeks ago. That is completely unacceptable and the households that are bearing the brunt of this believe that is unacceptable. We need a government that is active and will press the Commission to allow for VAT applied to domestic energy bills to be reduced to zero.

Has the Government now formally sought a derogation for VAT on energy bills from the Commission? Is it the Government’s intention to reduce VAT to zero for a period on domestic energy bills, as we have called on the Government to do for the past five months? When does the Minister expect this process to be concluded?

The Minister knows well that the Government could reduce the cost of home heating oil tonight if it wanted to. Over one third of households use home heating oil to warm their homes. In the north west, the west and Border areas, two thirds of households use home heating oil as the primary source of heating. The Minister could reduce the cost tonight. He could reduce excise duty on home heating oil, which would reduce the cost of a tank fill by about €100. The cost of a fill has increased to €1,600 this month. Many families are simply at breaking point.

I must also ask has the Minister engaged with the ESB? Electric Ireland is a subsidiary of the ESB. The ESB made profits of almost €700 million and paid dividends to the State. Has the Minister engaged with the ESB as an energy provider and generator to ensure those profits are not recorded next year and savings are passed on to consumers?

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