Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Today, the Rural Independent Group met with senior management of the ESB. There was a debate and many questions were asked. One of the questions was on the €1.036 billion in operating profits it had after 18 months. One question was why could it not use the profits to compensate the people of this country, as it is 96% State-owned. However, under competition regulation, it is not allowed to do this, is it?

Under regulation, ESB Networks is allowed to make €1.063 billion in profits but it is not allowed to compensate households - every man, woman and child - and businesses. That is sad, is it not? Regulation is stopping those people and businesses from being compensated.

Another matter relating to regulation is that the base cost of energy is based on regulation as well. The regulation dictates that the base cost is based on the price of gas prices, coal and other fossil fuels coming into this country. It then works on a base price of what energy is going to cost. There is not much difference between any of the electricity suppliers in terms of the cost of electricity even though, according to energy bills, renewable energy accounts for 63% to 64% of energy produced. Even though it is cheaper to use renewable energy to supply electricity, it comes under the same regulation base costs as fossil fuels. Is that correct? The suppliers have no choice. As a result of a regulation, they have to charge the same base price for electricity from renewable energy as electricity from fossil fuel energy. We are here listening to people preaching to us every day about renewable energy. As a result of a regulation from Europe, the same price is being charged for renewable energy that accounts for 64% of our energy as is charged for electricity produced from coal at Moneypoint or from gas coming into the country. The people are being ripped off when it comes to energy costs.

According to statistics published this month by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, SMEs account for 99.8% of the total number of active enterprises in Ireland. This represents 68.4% of employment. I presume the Minister of State knows what SMEs are. They account for 68.4% of employment. I run an SME, as do many other people. I have just outlined that, under regulation, the price of electricity in this country is based on fossil fuels coming in even though renewable energy is also playing its part. Under competition law, renewable energy falls under the base cost of fossil fuel energy.

Now we turn around to the fossil fuel on which the Government is taking 50% of every euro spent by people who are trying to go to work. The 68.4% of the workforce who are employed by SMEs have no choice but to use their vehicle to go to work. I and other members of the Rural Independents met with the ESB today. The people we met are all based in Dublin, where they have public transport, bicycle lanes, taxis and the Luas that they can use to get to work, or where they can work from home. They have everything. I asked them about different things. The Government is charging a 50% tax on fuel, supported by the Minister of State and all his colleagues, and this is a tax on people who do not have infrastructure. It means 50% on foods being delivered to one's house, 50% on the delivery of the clothes on our backs and 50% tax on the shoes delivered to shops. It is an unfair tax on every person in rural Ireland. From the Red Cow roundabout out is rural Ireland. Rural Ireland is not above in the mountains where people come down once a week for a bite of food; it takes in anyone outside the Red Cow roundabout who does not have infrastructure.

The Government has taxes at 50% and it is talking about energy costs. It is a failure by the Government, the Minister of State and all his colleagues. I heard Deputy Cathal Crowe saying he is a suckler farmer. Why is he not opening his mouth? Why are none of the Government backbenchers opening their mouths about the energy crisis and the taxation? It is like fuel - the more the electricity price charged by suppliers goes up, the more VAT the Government takes on the bill. It is another tax on rural Ireland. You have to factor in that a person who is on €600 a week take-home pay and lives somewhere past the Red Cow roundabout has no choice but to go to work in a car. An average car takes €100 of fuel. The Government takes €50 of that before the person leaves home. The person then has to go to work. When the person gets up in the morning and turns on a light, the Government is taking VAT on the higher energy costs that are based on fossil fuel prices even though renewable energy is cheaper. But, no, the Government takes it on the high base costs, even when it comes to a company that is 96% owned by the State, because of regulations that have been brought in by Europe and the Government. It is another tax. The fuel tax is an unfair tax on rural Ireland. It is an unfair tax on people who have no choice but to drive to work. It is an unfair tax on every SME.

We heard about the butchers and other shops that are trying to keep the fridges on to store the food they will supply to families. I found out today that the cost of energy is based on an outdated regulation. If the regulation was changed, that would bring down the cost of energy. The other energy suppliers could use their profits to subsidise the energy costs but they will not do so because they know they are caught under regulation. Why can we not change the regulation? Why can we not do something for the people in this country? Why can we not do something that will save the jobs of the 68.4% of people working in this country who are employed by SMEs? They are not all here in Dublin. Many of them live near me. Some of them are my family members. They are all across the country and they want to support this country but all the Government does is tax them out of existence. We see now that the technology crowd is starting to let people go because it does not think it is viable.

The first time I raised the issue of the fuel crisis in the House, I could see the problem. The Government could not see it. The parties in Opposition could not see it, but I could see it because I am on the ground with people and I understand the cost of living. The Government does not understand it. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, said that the citizens I was referring to are the citizens who are not in a position to support local economies and stores, so the Government takes less VAT there and that is why it is taking more tax on fuel. With the unfair tax on fuel, he is penalising everyone who has no choice but to drive. His answer was that because the citizens I was referring to are not in a position to support the likes of SMEs due to the escalating cost of food production, transport in this country is being brought down by the Government through its taxation system. I would be sickened if I was in the shoes of the Minister of State over there. I would be sickened by what the Government is doing to the next generation and to every SME in this country. It will be held to account, believe me.

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