Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

We are in the throes of a perfect storm, with sky-high energy prices, energy insecurity and an increasingly palpable climate crisis, which is impacting on every element of our lives and communities. This is an extremely challenging time, when many will struggle to feed their families or heat their homes over the winter. Nevertheless, out of crisis can come opportunity, and with an €11 billion budget, never before has a Government had such an opportunity to build a secure, sustainable and fair future for all residents and communities. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu said:

A time of crisis is not just a time of anxiety and worry. It gives a chance, an opportunity, to choose well or to choose badly.

What did the Government choose in this budget? Unfortunately, rather than choose a budget of fairness and opportunity, a budget for the long term with a targeted approach, it chose a "Late Late Show" bonanza, with one for everyone in the audience, even for those wealthy individuals and homeowners who do not need it. As for what path the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications chose, he chose, unfortunately, not to ramp up his climate actions to meet these challenges head on.

Instead, he has chosen to give us more of the same by adding a few more retrofits here and there and offering some empty rhetoric about rooftop revolution and accelerating climate action. However, the reality is that spin and public relations just will not cut it. Giving us more of the same just will not cut it. More of the same will just mean more missing of targets, more homes and individuals waiting in longer queues for retrofitting programmes and more people on low incomes being disadvantaged because they cannot afford to take out a loan to make their homes energy efficient or warm. Instead, what we needed to see was ambition, urgency and delivery.

The Social Democrats proposed an ambitious roll-out of solar panels to ensure that 100,000 low-income homes received panels free of charge. These were homes in energy poverty that needed Government support to make the climate changes we require of them. The Social Democrats focus on solar because it is quick, practical and cheaper to do. Most importantly, it could reduce the annual energy costs for those in energy poverty by 40%. Our proposals involve the State bulk buying panels at greatly reduced prices with teams of trained installers fitting out entire estates at one time. This is the most efficient, effective and lean manner in which to deliver. It really is a no-brainer. This would have really been a rooftop revolution where not only would we see emissions, fossil fuel dependency and energy costs drop, but a real revolution where those most at risk from energy poverty would have been protected now and into the future. It would have been a just revolution that, unfortunately, the Government has failed to deliver.

All through our discussions when we talk about climate, and when the Green Party and the Minister talk about climate, they talk about just transition. It has to mean something more than talk. It has to be seen in the Government's budgets and where it targets its money. This budget has done nothing for low-income households that want to install solar panels. They are not part of the warmer homes scheme. It will not assist those homes to reduce energy usage and their energy costs. It is something that could be done very quickly. I do not understand why the Minister and the Government have such a blind spot when it comes to solar energy. We need to invest in solar. It is one part of the jigsaw but it is an important part. As I said, it is something that could be done very quickly.

Having households go to a one-stop shop, which then organises a company to go out to an individual home in a town or village, is the most inefficient way to deliver both retrofitting and solar. The Government needs to be ambitious in this. It needs to step up to make sure that people who are at risk of fuel poverty now and next January, and who will be at risk of fuel poverty next year, are protected and that they can make savings on their energy costs. We need them to do it. Our energy grid needs them to do it. Our climate and environment need them to do it. Unfortunately, it appears to me that the Green Party mantra for this budget is could have, should have but did not.

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