Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Paul Murphy was first. He spoke about President von der Leyen. I agree with her that excessive profits have been made on the back of the war and the crisis and that there has been a very substantial increase in revenue. By the end of this month, Europe will have made a decision. We are leading on that. We are working with our European partners. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has been involved. As a country, we have made it very clear that we want a mechanism developed, ideally across Europe, to deal with wind generation companies, which is what largely what we have in Ireland. We have one fossil fuel company, which operates on the Corrib gas field. Any excess revenues raised on the back of the crisis should be used to help the governments of member states, including our own, to support households and to protect jobs. That is the agenda. The gas market is European so it makes sense that this is done across Europe. A deeper reform of the market is also required. A key issue is decoupling gas prices from those of energy generated from wind or other sources such as nuclear. It is not simple. There are many complexities with regard to the markets. We are not going to nationalise the entire European Union market. That is not going to happen. We have to deal with reality. We are not going to do that. We are not in a position to do so. Every member state is entitled to its domestic policies within the European Union framework. I am also not necessarily sure it would lead to the kind of efficiencies the Deputy has suggested. Neither system is perfect, whether a completely market-led approach or a hybrid approach involving State involvement regulated by regulators along with other actors and players in the marketplace. We need a strong regulatory framework with strong capacity. That is what we support.

On Deputy Bacik's point regarding the other resettlement programmes, without question, the Ukrainian situation has put great pressure on our system. Some 50,000 have come into the country, of whom approximately 38,000 or 39,000 are housed by the State through premises that have been procured such as hotels while others have been housed through the housing provided voluntarily by people. There has also been growth in the normal asylum seeking process. There are also programmes for those fleeing war, specifically Afghans and Syrians. I will check on these programmes. I have not been alerted that they are under pressure. There are other newer arrivals, not all of whom are fleeing war. This is also putting pressure on the accommodation situation.

I have already referenced the Corrib gas field, which has been of enormous importance in supplying Ireland. We have not had much success with fossil fuel extraction in Ireland. The Kinsale gas field was the original and the Corrib gas field has been a very important contributor. We import most of our gas. We are very dependent on importation. Again, the EU instrument will cover both. We are supporting that.

I believe that same point covers what Deputy Martin Kenny referenced with regard to the emergency meeting in Brussels. There is to be another meeting and the Commission will publish a proposal with a view to reaching a decision at a meeting of energy ministers on 30 September. Apart from that, the Government will have to help alleviate pressures on people and protect jobs in the weeks immediately ahead of us through the budget and associated cost-of-living package using our own resources and surplus.

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