Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 1 to Financial Resolution No. 2 reads: "In paragraph (1), to delete “be extended until 28 February 2023” and substitute “be extended until 31 December 2023”." The amendment represents a request to extend the VAT cut that was introduced last spring on electricity and gas bills. The Minister has sought to extend it to the end of February but the Labour Party proposes an extension to the end of 2023. We do so for a number of reasons. It has been an important part of the measures introduced to support people at this time when it is unprecedentedly difficult for them to meet the demands placed on them by their energy bills, specifically gas and electricity bills. It is not a panacea. It is a part of a package of measures. We supported the reduction in the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% last spring and are happy to do so again in order to extend the cut to the end of February 2023, but we want it extended to the end of next year. We want that for several reasons.

The Minister will know that it is causing consternation, to put it mildly, to which standing charges are giving rise. The regulator seems powerless to introduce any change and to reduce those charges. As I said in my response to the budget, we have a regulator who appears to be an enabler of the energy companies that are making enormous profits at the moment at the expense of hard-pressed householders. As a contribution to reducing the hardship those hard-pressed householders are experiencing, we believe that, at a cost of between €130 million and €175 million, depending on where gas prices are next year, we could extend the VAT cut to the end of the year. It is especially important to do so given that standing charges, which are now a real bugbear for people, are not being reduced. Regardless of the efforts householders put into being responsible in their energy use and cutting their costs, standing charges are often going up and, as I say, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, appears powerless. The Minister is not powerless. He can make a decision this evening to extend the VAT cut to give some more relief to families next year. In total, the extension of the cut to the end of next year could involve a saving of €165 per household. That is not insignificant. I gather from a reply to a parliamentary question that it would come at a cost of between €130 million and €175 million. In the scheme of things, that is not an enormous amount of money, given that we have been talking about a once-off package of measures of €4.1 billion. Of course, that €4.1 billion will melt like snow on a ditch come 31 December and it will be back to business as usual next year. We need to include this measure now or we will be looking at it again in the context of what I believe will be the requirement for a mini-budget next spring so meagre are the measures introduced in budget 2023 to protect hard-pressed households across the country. I appeal to the Minister to reflect on the issue and to support this amendment to extend the proposed VAT cut not to the end of February but to the end of 2023.

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