Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this measure today. In recent weeks we have all started to notice a chill in the air, darker mornings and evenings closing in. For most people when it is colder and darker, we use more electricity. Those spikes in electricity usage are being compounded by the spikes in electricity prices as is being seen up and down the country. Lights are going on earlier, the heating is being switched on probably for the first time since summer in many households. However, it is also the first time since many of the price increases. It is fair to say that people have never been more conscious of the choices they are making, the appliances they are using and the switches they are flicking. While canvassing last weekend I met a lady who told me that boiling the kettle is costing her twice as much as it did this time last year. I was struck as to just how conscious people are of the direct impact that their choices are having on their pockets.

While limiting our energy consumption should be something that we all think about year-round especially given the climate crisis we are facing, in the colder autumn and winter months it is really important that people are not forced to choose not to turn on the heat or electricity because they are afraid of the cost of doing that. Unfortunately, that has become a real threat for people from a cost-implication perspective in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rising energy costs being experienced across the globe. That is where the Government must intervene and has intervened.

Despite the challenges people are facing with the cost-of-living crisis, the feedback that I am getting on the doorsteps after the budget has been pretty positive overall. That is because people, from our children to our older people, are getting the help they need and deserve. The payment of three €200 electricity credits to every household in November, January and March is one of the really welcome measures. No one is arguing that €600 in energy credits will completely cushion households from rising costs, but they are a helping hand. Putting €600 back in people's pockets - €600 that would not otherwise be there - during the coldest and darkest winter months is a good move.

Targeting assistance to those on low incomes at the greatest risk of energy poverty with a major expansion of the fuel allowance scheme is also a good move. A lump-sum fuel allowance payment of €400 will be paid in November. We are increasing the fuel allowance threshold from €120 up to €200 above the State pension and extending the fuel allowance to give 80,000 people aged over 70 an increased means threshold of €500 per week or €1,000 for couples.

We have also moved to extend the lower 9% VAT rate for gas and electricity until February and we are helping with fuel costs by extending excise cuts for petrol, diesel and marked gas oil also until February. The 20% reduction in train and bus fares will continue up to the end of next year. Those are all welcome measures.

There has been much discussion on energy price caps at a European level. While it is important not to rule anything out, we need to be frank about this. Most energy companies in Ireland are price takers in the international energy markets and capping prices that energy companies can charge here could risk energy security.

Price caps have unintended and unforeseen consequences. We see that in places like Spain where a price cap has led to the country's highest ever gas consumption. Even countries that had price caps for several years before the pandemic or the Russian war have now had to change their approach. What we do not want to do is benefit energy companies; we must benefit people and that is what the electricity credit does.

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