Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

To think this is simple in terms of how one reforms the market or in terms of immediate measures does not serve the Irish public because it is anything but simple. At the energy council, however, we have been centrally involved in working with the Commission. I brought many of the energy ministers to Dublin last week, where we continued to discuss what is the right approach. Every country has slightly different circumstances. The five-point plan presented by the Commission for the immediate response in the next six months is the right one. It is to tackle the inframarginal pricing so that the generators to which the Deputy would give a blank cheque pay some of the money back. We need to take on the fossil fuel industry. It, too, has to make a solidarity contribution. We must recognise that liquidity supports are needed because there is a risk that the energy companies could fall. Critically, we need to be good at energy efficiency and demand management because that is a way to save money for people. By being clever in how we use energy, we can protect people.

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