Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Of course the war in Ukraine has worsened the situation but that war does not explain wind energy companies making super profits even though their costs have not changed a bit.

Nor does it explain the profiteering of energy companies, which has been mentioned already, in respect of gas from the Corrib field, gas from the UK, from where we get most of it, or from Norway. It also does not explain the failure of the Taoiseach’s Government and other governments, although it is worth saying that countries like Spain have introduced price controls. France capped the level of increases that could be imposed but the Taoiseach’s Government, before the war in Ukraine started and when this cost-of-living crisis was in its infancy, refused to impose price controls when it was asked to do so in this Dáil through a motion we put forward. It also refused to extend eligibility for the fuel allowance or to take the energy sector back into public ownership. People are suffering a terrible cost while those same energy companies’ profits increase. By the way, while the war has made the situation worse, we have the highest utility costs of almost anywhere in Europe. We also have the highest childcare costs. We have seen the biggest increases in rents and house prices of anywhere in Europe. That is a specific Government failure in this country and alibis based on what is happening internationally do not justify the Government’s failure to act comprehensively to defend people against this dire crisis.

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