Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State might pass on that we would like him to stay. I am not degrading the Minister of State but a senior Minister needs to hear facts and he will not hear them from most of his own crowd back-patting him and not explaining to him what is happening out there.

In order for temporary emergency generation to be available in quarter 4 2023, licence applications are required to be lodged by the end of March 2023 to enable due consultation and consideration of the applications by the EPA. Legislative amendments are required urgently to facilitate this process. Ireland is one of the most fossil fuel-reliant countries in Europe and is largely dependent on costly imports of oil and gas. Most of our electricity is generated from natural gas, the price of which is something we cannot control in Ireland. The Government’s failure to provide new exploration licences for domestic oil and gas means we are dependent on the price set by other countries and companies.

Renewables are probably Ireland’s greatest strength, given the weather, but our greatest weakness is the snail’s pace at which the Government is delivering them. Families pay €4,000 per year or more for electricity following sustained price increases dating back to mid-2021. Making matters worse, energy industry analysts say delays in new windfarm developments will contribute to a supply squeeze that will keep prices above pre-pandemic levels until 2030. By December 2022, consumer electricity prices were 62.7% higher year on year according to the Central Statistics Office. The price of gas rose by 86.5%. Liquid fuels and home heating oil were up 39.9% and solid fuels were up 46.9% in the year. Wholesale gas prices hit their peak in August 2022, rising to a whopping €346 per MWh, a more than 450% increase on prices before the invasion. The price of gas remains high but has fallen to a level not seen since the second half of 2021, when we first started to feel the rising costs. High energy costs are having a significant impact on all sectors and groups of people. From households and businesses to the agriculture and transport sectors, everybody is feeling the strain of ever-increasing energy bills. Households face the most immediate and significant impact. The cost of electricity and gas has more than doubled in the past two years, making it difficult for families to make ends meet. This is particularly true for low-income families who are more likely to experience energy poverty, which is defined as being unable to afford adequate warmth and energy services in their homes.

Many have spoken about the warmer homes situation. When the Green Party got into government, I thought that was an area it would focus and deliver on but some people in my constituency are still waiting to be seen after two years, including elderly people. There are extraordinary bills. I was speaking to a person the other day in west Cork who said they opened their electricity bill and sat down with a pain in their chest. How would they pay €700 for two months? They could not figure out what to switch on in the house. Modern homes have everything electric and nothing else. They were horrified thinking about how they would find that €700. They were obviously going to have to ring the electricity company to try to do a deal. That is only kicking the can down the road. It is astonishing what businesses are paying.

We gave little grants and bits and pieces to people last year off their electricity bill but the energy companies are not brought to task at all. It is as if the Government is afraid in case it would insult them or hurt their feelings. Government Members should not be worried about their feelings. It is the feelings of the people who vote for them that they should worry about. Those people are not being thought about. No one living should get a bill of €700 for the little bit of electricity they use. There is a lot more. We hear of elderly people getting €1,600 or €1,700 bills. They are cold in their homes and have no choice but to heat them. The Minister, as with the drones in Dublin Airport which were mentioned, is way off the mark. He should get these energy companies around the table, put his foot down and give them strict orders. They can get profits but they must give back some of the moneys they are grabbing out of people's pockets. They have crucified people and the Government has stood idly by.

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