Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Councillor Frankie Daly, from Limerick, and his guests to the Visitors Gallery. It is nice to see guests back here again.

Irish electricity prices are the fourth most expensive in the EU. They are 23% above the EU average. Only Germany, Denmark and Belgium beat us. It is price gouging and it is a despicable attack on all our citizens, who feel hopeless and hapless. Inflation, as we note today, is at a 22-year high. The Government's inaction is startling. The issue is affecting every sector of Irish society, including farmers, business owners, families and charity organisations. Everyone is feeling the pinch. It is totally unsustainable. Our Government owns 95% of the ESB, which made a profit of €200 million last year and paid a dividend to the Minister for Finance of €120 million. Swift action is needed by the Government — it does not seem to be coming — to insist that the ESB cease ripping off consumers. A price cap on profits is needed and the Government can no longer bury its head in the sand. I plead with the Tánaiste. We cannot do this to our people.

Does the Government believe a State-owned electricity company should be making record profits when most consumers can barely afford to heat their homes? Some cannot afford to do so. Will the Government use its power and influence over how the ESB is gouging to reverse the latest price hikes? We have heard all the Irish electricity suppliers, including Electric Ireland, blame rising natural gas prices globally for record increases. However, the facts do not support this contention. For instance, figures emerged last October showing that many ESB power plants earned profits of between €132,000 and €138,000 per hour at different times during July and September of last year. Generators that I have mentioned were trying to buy electricity from the ESB.

Household electricity costs rose by 70% in 2021. This was before any mention of the desperate and despicable war in Ukraine, so the Government should stop hiding behind that Trojan horse. This is a perfect storm that the Government has created. We are blaming everything on the Ukraine conflict, as horrific as it is.

Bord Gáis recently announced further hikes of 27%. It has already been estimated that those hikes have added between €1,000 and €1,500 to the bill in every person's home. This is just not sustainable. I have raised this matter on numerous occasions and have written to the Taoiseach about it. I might as well have written to Santy Claus or the Easter Bunny, who is coming next week, for all the good it did me. Again, I urge the Government in the strongest possible terms to take swift action and direct the ESB to stop ripping off customers and place a cap on all profits generated in Ireland. This is necessary to ensure immediate reductions for all electricity customers. Direct Government intervention is needed. The Government should not stand idly by and promise something in October. It is not doing anything. It is supposed to represent the people and look after their interests but it is not. It is allowing the ESB to do what it wants.

See this speech in context