Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government is approaching this in a prudent way. We are making sure to protect people, while also pursuing companies that have been making excessive profits. When the Government is deciding on the appropriate tax for the so-called solidarity contribution, I suggest to the Minister of State that we should go to the high end of the permitted scale, rather than down around the 33%. The contracts for wind companies that are being underwritten by a price of €180 per megawatt-hour were at about €90 per megawatt-hour. There is too much fat being put into those charges.

Wind energy companies should be making a contribution to help people adapt to a lower carbon and lower energy cost world. They should be stepping up to the plate because in the long term we need people to support renewable energy and the projects that will switch us to becoming less dependent on fossil fuels. This is a golden opportunity for companies in that sector to show they are in tune with the needs of the communities they serve and that they are willing to help people make changes in their homes to make them warmer and more efficient.

I have said this to the Minister of State on a previous occasion. and I will say it again: the missing piece in this is a serious Government effort to help people to make those changes. We should be focusing on shallow retrofits. Today, the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action was told that there are 162,000 unfilled cavity walls that could be insulated. They should be the target of early intervention. We were also told that heat controls have the potential to reduce energy use by 36%. These groups should be eligible for 80% grants. We should be moving to help people to make the changes that would reduce energy dependence. There is not enough emphasis on the early wins that can be delivered by sharing, having more electric vehicle chargers and helping people make those low-cost changes. Now is the time to do that, when people are attending to the needs and vulnerability of what they are doing. Now is the time to capitalise on that. We need to do more in that sphere.

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