Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 was agreed at a meeting of the Council of Energy Ministers on 30 September 2022 and came into force on 8 October 2022. This regulation places a cap on market revenues for non-gas technologies in the electricity sector and introduces a temporary solidarity contribution based on taxable profits for fossil fuels production and oil refining, as well as reduction targets of 10% of overall electricity consumption and 5% of consumption during peak hours. I am pleased that we will implement this regulation, but will the Minister of State outline, for households and businesses heavily affected by soaring energy prices, where the proceeds will go? The public needs to know. The number of phone calls I have received from business owners in recent days has been worrying. There is concern about energy costs and whether they will be able to keep their businesses going. That is a major factor across the board.

Would the Government consider a communication or information campaign on this? One butcher rang me to say he has six huge fridges, and while he is trying to do his best - I know the Minister of State is aware of this - if things keep going on like this, he does not know if he can sustain it.

I would also ask the Minister of State to address the issue of accommodation for our Ukrainian refugees. This is another huge issue for me. This is also something I have received several phone calls about. There seems to be something failing in the system. I know we were not expecting this and the system was not either. However, two property owners in Carlow and Tullow have come to me who can accommodate 60 refugees, and despite my intervention and going to all the areas to see where I can help, I have still received no word. That is going on months. I am concerned that morale will go if we are not seen to be working with people who own properties. It is the same with people who have houses and are looking to accommodate families. There seems to be a lack of communication. How do we address it better?

I welcome that local authorities now have directors of services for Ukrainians, but they do not work within the accommodation sector and that is a big flaw. While we have those directors of services, I would ask that we also work with the local authorities, particularly on local knowledge. The Minister of State will know himself that there is nothing as good as knowing local businesses, property owners or people with housing who know they can accommodate these people, so I ask him to look at this. I know, as others have said, that the Government is committed to this but these are issues that keep coming up for me in Carlow and Kilkenny and I would ask that the Minister of State would address these.

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