Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I too would like to be associated with the Tánaiste's remarks about the awful tragedies we have seen in relation to children in the past month or so.

Energy prices are now out of control. They are obliterating the incomes of workers and families and threatening the survival of so many businesses. In June, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, reported that a record 29% of households were in energy poverty. Following recent price hikes, that figure has already jumped to 43%. In a few weeks or months, we could be facing a catastrophe in which 70% of households are in energy poverty. This is not sustainable for either families or businesses and the immense uncertainty about how bad the crisis could get and how high prices could go is causing a huge degree of stress and anxiety.

Clearly, the energy market is broken. When markets are broken, it is the job of the State to intervene. Given the scale of this crisis, that intervention will have to be huge.

One of those interventions must be a windfall tax. It is grotesque to see the level of obscene profiteering by energy companies which is accompanying an energy crisis caused by Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine which is causing so much death, destruction and suffering.

While it is welcome that the EU is now moving ahead with a windfall tax, it is regrettable that it has taken so long to act. Energy companies have been making lavish profits all year. In fact, profits surged last year when energy prices soared as economies came out of lockdown and demand increased. Vermilion Energy, which owns the Corrib Gas Field, increased its profits four-fold to €152.8 million last year. The average price it received for gas in the final quarter of 2021 was more than nine times the average price for 2020. We can only assume the prices it is receiving this year are off the Richter scale.

Renewable energy companies are reaping profits they never imagined in their wildest dreams. It is not because of any innovation on their part. It is because the price of electricity produced with renewables is linked to the price of gas. The EU has now proposed capping the price renewable companies can earn to €180/MWh with the remainder being recouped by governments. It is not clear why this figure of €180/MWh was chosen. It is true it represents a halving of recent market prices but those prices were signs of a market imploding. This week gas prices fell to €200/MWh, which is still six times what was being charged last year. Is not the point of renewable energy that it is clean and much cheaper than fossil fuels?

I hope the Tánaiste can clarify some of these points. When will the Government introduce the windfall tax? Will it be backdated to capture the obscene profits that have been made this year? How much does the Government expect to raise? Why, under the EU plans, is the cap proposed on renewable energy generators so high?

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