Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The energy security problems we face are the product of the Government's failure to prepare and plan in advance. When one looks at the housing crisis, the pressure around accommodating Ukrainian refugees, the mismanagement of our health system and various other issues, it is not surprising that the Government has failed to plan in advance in relation to energy security. The Government has failed to deliver the necessary power stations to deliver significant generation capacity through renewables and gas storage facilities. It has been clear for years that our energy demand would increase substantially. The war in Ukraine has made it painfully clear how poorly developed we are in terms of energy security. However, we are much more fortunate than many of our EU partners. We have very little dependence on Russian gas. Our gas comes from the North Sea in Britain and the Corrib gas field.

Energy demand has shot up by 12% in the past five years and this Government's red-carpet policy towards data centres has fuelled much of this demand. It is staggering to think that data centres now consume as much electricity as every house in rural Ireland. Since 2016 EirGrid has been warning of an increasing tightness between supply and demand but the Government spent six years not listening. There was a clear failure to put a plan into action in order to be prepared for what we are now facing. The energy crisis has clearly exposed the failings in the Government's approach to energy, including the rampant privatisation of our energy sector, with State assets such as Bord Gais fully sold off. Now we see record profits being reported by the likes of Bord Gais in the middle of this crisis. The windfall profits of energy companies should be going back into energy development, into developing secure and sustainable energy in communities across the State. Instead, these profits are lining the pockets of shareholders while ordinary workers and their families are struggling to pay huge energy bills.

The ESB has been at the core of secure electricity generation to every corner and community in this State. For many years, our energy prices were among the lowest in the EU until the ESB had to set prices higher to encourage competition in the market. As a result, electricity prices have gone from being among the lowest to now being among the highest in the EU.

This is a State-owned company making record profits in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. It is hard to believe. Just like in housing, the energy market has failed to provide lower and more competitive prices for workers. We have already seen moves in EU states such as France to bring energy companies back under State ownership. To put an end to the price gouging we are currently experiencing, we need to see this Government take proactive steps in energy development and not wait until the last moment to react.

Achieving energy security can create massive opportunities for communities across the island, especially for young people, in the form of highly skilled jobs with good or very good pay and conditions.

Working families across the State need to feel secure coming into this winter. Across the State more than 200,000 households are in electricity arrears. Thousands of families are being pushed to the limit paying these bills. This is a clear result of failure by this Government to plan for our energy security. Many people using pre-pay meters are given no choice by their landlords, and now some are being left to ration their electricity. I hear from constituents that the process of switching from pre-pay is effectively impossible. They wait over an hour to try to speak to an operator only to be suddenly disconnected. Most people do not have the free time to sit around waiting for over an hour in the hope of speaking to someone. It is simply not good enough. Workers and families need to feel safe and secure during this coming winter.

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