Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí go léir. I acknowledge and am thankful that the Opposition is supporting the Bill, which, in general, will help everybody. However, there were plenty of questions, comments and criticisms. I will try to address all of the latter in so far as is possible.

The general question at the start was why this Bill is so similar to another Bill we introduced recently and why we cannot just reuse that Bill. The reason is that this Bill grants a payment of €1.2 billion across more than 2 million families. The Attorney General's view is that no Minister should have the power, through executive order, to issue such payments to the public without the consent of the Oireachtas. In light of that advice, we are going through these steps again. Deputies will be familiar with the idea that there is a finance Bill every year, when large amounts of taxpayer money are spent and we need the consent of the Oireachtas in order that Ministers are not granted too much executive power. We were advised that it would be unconstitutional to give any Minister the power to hand out €1.2 billion as he or she saw fit.

Another question from many Deputies concerned why the payment is not targeted, though a small number said that it is too targeted and that they would like to see more universal payments. This is a single universal measure, part of an overall package of €2.5 billion, most of which is targeted. This payment is universal. It goes to everybody. Even if you fall through the cracks or do not qualify for welfare, you can collect it. It is one of three parts to the universal payments. Last year, the PSO charge on people's bills was €51. This year there will be a credit for PSO levy of €89, so in that way there is €140 credit on everybody's bill this year. The VAT rate has been introduced on electricity from 13.5% to 9%. That is a universal measure that applies to everybody.

We have to make sure we are targeting expenditure at people who need it most, and it is for that reason we have a €400 lump sum payment to fuel allowance recipients, which Deputy Joan Collins referred to. That will be paid in the week commencing 14 November. The Deputy asked if this will be available to people who apply in January. I will have to ask the Minister for Social Protection that question. We can come back to that on Committee Stage. A number of Deputies have said they will table amendments on that Stage. I look forward to seeing them and they will all be considered.

The €400 lump sum payment to fuel allowance recipients is not the only targeted measure. There is also a €200 lump sum payment for pensioners and people with disability getting the living alone allowance that will be payable in the week commencing 14 November. There is a €500 cost-of-living lump sum payment to all families getting working family payment. That will be payable also on the week commencing 14 November. There is a double payment of child benefit to support all 639,000 families with children. This will be paid on 1 November. There is a €500 cost-of-living payment for people receiving the carer's support grant, payable on the week commencing 21 November. There is a €500 lump sum cost-of-living disability support grant targeted to all people receiving a long-term disability payment, payable on the week commencing 14 November. There is an autumn cost-of-living double payment for all long-term welfare recipients, payable on the week commencing 17 October, and a Christmas bonus payable to all those receiving a long-term social welfare payment on the week commencing 5 December.

That is to point out that this measure is one of many. It is one of three universal measures but one of a large collection of measures, both universal and targeted to help people get past this winter and to soften the hardest edges in the increase of the cost of gas and electricity which are the result of the war in Ukraine.

A number of Deputies referred to the effects on pay-as-you-go meters. While many find that these meters work well for them, vulnerable customers should not be on these meters but on bill-pay meters. It is free for people to change from what are sometimes known as hardship meters to a bill-pay option. Consumers can contact their supplier to register as vulnerable and so avail of additional protections in recognition of their personal circumstances. Deputy Boyd Barrett told the story of his constituent who contacted him who had a medical need for an electricity connection but had been disconnected. I have been in that situation where I was contacted by a constituent and it was through that process that I discovered the register of vulnerable consumers. The CRU guidelines do no permit utility companies to disconnect customers who have a medical need for devices that run on electricity. It is very important that people get onto that register. Deputy Collins asked about that. There is an issue about communication and it is important that we communicate that well to people.

I welcome Deputy Whitmore's comments and those of Deputy Harkin on the drawbacks of an energy cap. They are quite right in pointing those out. It is essential we are aware of the negative impacts of such a measure as have happened in other jurisdictions. We have had the time to see how they are working out in other jurisdictions and have seen their outcomes.

Several Deputies asked about the Travellers who did not receive the payment and were left out on the last occasion or were only paid late and who were sharing a MRPN or meter through their local authority, perhaps in Traveller-specific accommodation of one form or another. Senator Flynn has raised that directly with me and in the Seanad. Around 1,000 families are affected. I assure Deputies that we will make sure that all correctly receive their money this time around and that any past underpayment will be corrected. It is 1,000 families out of 2 million but there is an issue of equity here. They absolutely deserve to be treated exactly the same as anyone else. Great efforts will be made to make sure that we reach all of them.

Deputy Canney asked when we will bring in the planning changes that will allow people to put solar panels on their roofs without planning permission. I am happy to say they were signed last Friday. This means that people can put as many solar panels on their roof as they wish wherever they live in the country. Anyone with a farm, business or apartment block can put them on their roof unless they live near an airport or helipad in which case there is a limit to 300 sq. m. That is a measure that I originally asked for in 2015. I am happy that it has come in now. It is also now the case that everyone can sell their power back to the grid if they wish. Those are two really important measures. That was requested in the Citizens' Assembly on climate change.

Deputy Murnane O'Connor asked for the dates when the three €200 payments will be made. The exact dates will be in regulation but they will be for the billing cycles of November-December this year, and January-February and March-April of next year. The Deputy stressed the importance of communications and particularly the case of tenants as well as the vulnerable register question and the case for Travellers. I absolutely take those points on board.

Deputy Stanley referred to security of supply. He said that it was important that we look to our own semi-state companies like Coillte, Bord na Móna and ESB and that we build up our capacity in renewable energy. I absolutely agree with that. All those companies are very active in the renewable energy field and I would like to see them invested in and continuing with the work they are doing.

Deputy Joan Collins said that we need to look at other options such as windfall tax. We are going to bring in a windfall tax. It will have two aspects: it will tax people who have deposits of gas, of whom there is only one in the country, and also bring in a tax on the profits of people who made unfair profits because they were selling electricity at the same cost because of the increased cost of gas. They will those with renewable energy or other sources of power. They will be taxed. Deputy Bruton asked that we tax them to the maximum extent that we can.

Deputy Nolan asked about churches and community halls and whether they will receive support for the increased cost of their electricity. I understand that separate funding of €25 million has been allocated to support such bodies as part of the budget. I expect a scheme to come out of that very soon. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said it was unfair that the cost of energy had gone up from suppliers whose cost of producing that energy had not gone up. That is exactly right. Those people have no right to overcharge for power and they will be faced with retrospective tax on the profits that they unfairly made. There are two aspects to the windfall taxes, with a windfall tax and a solidarity tax. They will be made in line with other European countries and will be done as quickly as possible.

Smart meters were raised. Deputy Ó Cathasaigh mentioned that information is not available to people to see how they are using their power which was half the point of smart meters. Conor Molloy also wrote to me on this. ESB Networks has now confirmed that customers who have smart meters installed will be able to access their 30-minute interval consumption data directly starting from November through a new ESB Networks customer portal.

I think that I have covered as many things as I can. I look forward to meeting the Deputies again on Committee Stage, looking at their amendments and seeing how we can progress this.

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