Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

A win on wind is what we all seek to achieve. I welcome the opportunity to speak to this motion on energy and I thank the proposers for giving us the opportunity to debate this very important issue. Clearly, we are in an energy crisis, accompanied by other crises in housing, the cost of living and, of course, the existential climate emergency and this polycrisis is exacerbated by Russia's brutal war on Ukraine. As we debate energy here in a relatively well-heated Chamber, we might all reflect on what the citizens of Ukraine are enduring under the hideous Russian bombardment and, in particular, the horrific and illegal targeting of civilian energy infrastructure in Ukraine by Russia. To hear Ukrainians speaking about the absolute absence of heat, energy and light in 21st-century Europe is appalling and puts this debate in perspective.

Nevertheless, in Ireland, we also have considerable difficulties with energy. We have a broken energy system, resulting from an undue liberalisation of the market and a lack of State investment in energy infrastructure, and that is a huge issue. I want to address a few of the points raised in the motion that highlight this difficulty and this legacy of a lack of planning for energy infrastructure but I will start by highlighting how much difficulty has been caused for our own residents and citizens throughout the country, who face such sharp hikes in energy bills. I heard this week from one constituent of mine who is living in a 110 sq. m apartment with her husband and two children. They have not had the heating turned on, given they are looking to save on energy costs and to do their bit in respect of carbon emissions, yet they have just been landed with a €1,300 gas bill for the past two months. They live in a block of 60 apartments and, therefore, according to their energy provider, they are being charged commercial rates, even though they have not had their own heating turned on. That is the sort of reality that faces many households and families with these exorbitant, as my constituent described them to me, energy bills, and it is why we need to look at radical, constructive and creative measures to address energy costs while meeting our vital climate emission targets.

Turning to the substance of the motion, we have extensively debated in the House the issue of data centre connections and the significant burden on our energy system represented by data centres, not least the projected burden from the eight new data centre connections planned in the next two years. We in the Labour Party support a moratorium on new connections and we see in clear data from EirGrid that the system can barely manage even the current demand. The day for the highest energy consumption was this week, so we need to see radical action from the Government on this.

The motion also highlights issues relating to transport, which is very important. There are concerns Government policy is looking to rely overly on a switch to electric vehicles rather than focusing on a switch away from private car use altogether. The Climate Change Advisory Council has called for swift and decisive action on this and, therefore, we must see a much greater priority on a move away from private cars altogether to public transport and to encouraging greater adoption of cycling and active travel. That is why the Labour Party's flagship climate measure in our budget 2023 proposal was the introduction, even for a six-month trial period, of a €9 monthly climate ticket offering unlimited access to public transport throughout Ireland, modelled on the German scheme. Based on that example and looking at what was generated through public transport fare revenue over 2019, we costed that proposal at €300 million for six months through the winter until the end of March. I appeal to the Minister of State to consider this as a proposal, albeit for next year, because in Germany, over three months, the scheme saved 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to the annual output from 388,000 vehicles. In Ireland, that would equate to taking 23,000 cars off the road and would also enable a saving in the costs of transport for many people, households and families, which would be very welcome in the context of those rising energy bills I described.

The motion goes on to cover measures relating to nationalising our energy infrastructure. Again, we in the Labour Party have called on the Government, on a number of occasions, to consider nationalising the Corrib gas field. At a minimum, we should start with nationalising the field that is producing about 25%, on some estimates, of Ireland's gas supply. Despite it producing that proportion, the prices are being set in an international context. We have called for temporary nationalisation in order that the price we would pay for this domestically produced gas supply would be set at the cost of production plus a margin for the operator, rather than at the much higher international market prices paid at present. The Government has the power to do this through laws put in place during the oil crisis of the 1970s. This too could result in a significant reduction in costs for a significant portion of our energy inputs.

The motion also calls for the establishment of a State construction company to retrofit homes directly and we in the Labour Party very much welcome this proposal. In addition to the energy crisis, the overreliance on the market and what that has caused, we have seen seriously negative impacts of an overreliance on the private sector when it comes to housing in this country. We have spoken about this extensively in this House, most recently last night when my party colleague, Deputy Nash, put forward the Labour Party's opposition to Government housing policy, and when I yesterday questioned the Taoiseach on why we are not seeing a much greater State investment in the delivery of public and affordable housing.

We have seen private construction taking over and yet becoming increasingly precarious. We have seen private sector resources directed to the building of hotels and office blocks rather than to housing and residential accommodation. We understand that only about a quarter of construction workers are now involved in residential building. This is at a time when more than 11,000 people are on housing lists. There is an extraordinary level of homelessness across the country. Clearly the Government's reliance on the private construction sector to provide an adequate supply of social and affordable housing has failed and has caused immense hardship and distress across the country. We employ tens of thousands of teachers and nurses to ensure our fundamental needs in healthcare and education are met, and yet our need and right to warm and adequate housing is treated differently. A State construction company could really address this difficulty and could resolve many issues relating to housing delivery and also relating to workers' rights and meeting climate targets, were we to see the work being channelled into retrofitting.

I will finish by referring to a project in my constituency, namely, the construction skills programme being run by the St. Andrew's Resource Centre, Pearse Street in conjunction with Dublin Port. People from the long-term unemployment register are upskilling in order that they can take part in construction and in order that we can meet our labour skills shortage in construction.

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