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

This morning the Rural Independent Group, led by me, brought a Private Members' motion to the Chamber which was unopposed by the Government and everyone else who was here and who contributed. The motion was to decouple the prices of electricity and gas so that we could get wind and solar energy and fossil fuel energy on two different footings. Everyone in this country can see from their bill that they have, say, 64% renewables. What they did not know until we simplified it today for them was that the 64% renewables on their bill is being charged at the gas price rate, that is, the highest rate. Whether a company is providing its electricity from gas, coal, briquettes peat, oil, wind or solar, customers are being charged at the highest rate by whoever produces the power. The Rural Independent Group brought this forward.

Some 12 months ago we raised the crisis in fossil fuels and businesses going to the wall over transport. Again the Government has done nothing about that. It has been shown now that many of the Government backbenchers and Deputies do not even know what they vote for until we simplify it for them. They are told what to do by the Government. Many of our backbenchers make decisions against their own counties which they represent by not knowing what they vote for. That is what they have done. Today, the 2022/1854 directive showed again that they have to listen to the Rural Independent Group which brought forward this motion that was unopposed by the Government. This is to let them know we know more than they do because we are on the ground with the people. The Government is responsible for every business in this country, including SMEs foreclosing. The Government will be responsible. Its members are the ones who will be remembered.

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