Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. However, I feel an overwhelming sense of déjà vutoday. It was only a few short weeks ago we were debating a Social Democrats motion on the same issue. Unfortunately, in the weeks that have passed, nothing has changed other than that the desperate pleas from people in our communities are getting louder as the bills are getting bigger. Since we last discussed this issue, people have been out in the media, telling us all about the anxiety-inducing bills they have been receiving, and we would all have spoken to such people in our constituency offices. It affects pensioners, families, single people, carers and voluntary groups such as youth clubs and sports clubs. This issue affects everybody and it has become clear this is a key failing of the Government.

I would hasten to add this was entirely foreseeable, entirely predictable and entirely avoidable. The Minister is correct in saying this crisis did not start with the start of the war in Ukraine, and there were six or nine months prior to that where energy prices were creeping up. Indeed, at that time, in September 2021, I raised it with the Minister as an issue and asked that he start to prepare and to work with people to address it. Therefore, it has been going on for quite a while, although I do not think any of us could have foreseen where we have ended up. If the Minister and the Government had listened to constituents, climate activists, the energy sector and those in opposition, it could have been avoided.

As I say in many of my interactions with the Minister, we want the Minister to do this well. All of us in our constituency offices hear from people who are struggling so much.

It would be my preference that the Government worked, supported those people and got the job done, but unfortunately that is not happening. However, there are ways to provide more support and certainty. Sinn Féin's motion mentions the windfall taxes and the cap on energy prices. The former are something we have all been calling for and I note the Minister specifically mentioned "windfall measures", because it is not just a windfall tax; there is not just one item. I believe we are to have a solidarity tax that will apply to the fossil fuel companies and be applied to the taxes from last year. There will be a cap on the earnings from electricity generation from wind and solar. However, that is only coming in from December to June, which is a short timeframe. The fossil fuel windfall solidarity tax will only be applied to a few companies here, I imagine. I am interested to learn what companies it will apply to.

We also need to hear from the Government about what dividends it will be taking from the likes of the ESB and when that will be happening. It is difficult talking to constituents who are struggling and who have heard of these huge profits because they cannot understand it. Instead of the profits being made by the State companies going back into them, which I appreciate goes into grid investment and other things, it is important, especially at this time of crisis, for the profits to go to people who are struggling. I will be interested to hear about the dividend the Government will be applying, including when it will apply and how much it will be, because the price increases have been relentless. Some energy companies increased their prices on five separate occasions last year.

The next point has been made as well, namely, that it is difficult to explain to people why businesses are going to see a reduction in their energy costs when households who get their energy from the same company are not seeing a comparable reduction in theirs. That businesses are getting this reduction is welcome, but it needs to apply to householders as well because, in reality, householders were subsidising businesses for 12 years. We are now seeing those householders are again being disadvantaged and that should never be allowed to happen. Who is looking after the householder here? We have a market that is completely out of whack and the regulatory system we have in place is not able to control it. It is not able to manage it to protect those consumers. It seems the only mechanisms the regulator can provide as a form of protection come down to providing information or determining what constitutes a vulnerable customer. The regulator does not really have any teeth and that is something we need to look at. We are moving into a different energy system and a different energy future, so now is the time for us to be looking at that regulatory system and working out what we want from it as a country. We must ask who we want to protect. I want to protect our most vulnerable, our householders and businesses as well, but the balance must be there. Now is the time. There is an opportunity to look not just at the energy market and how it operates but at how it is regulated and how people are protected. That is a key thing that needs to happen.

The Minister talked about the best long-term solution for providing security and resilience to people being renewable energies, retrofitting and making people's households and businesses resilient. Every time I get the opportunity I will tell the Minister I do not understand why he is not giving more supports for solar. I really do not understand it. It is the quickest and cheapest way to reduce people's energy bills. It is the most efficient way to do it. It can reduce their bills by 40% and can be done in a matter of days. I do not understand why the Minister has not grasped that. He has spoken about a rooftop revolution, but we are not seeing it. I ask that he take this seriously and examine it. While the Government provides cash supports, credit supports and social welfare supports for people now, we do not know what is going to happen next year from with the energy markets. We know what is needed next year from a climate perspective. Providing solar, having a widespread roll-out and much greater intervention by the State in the provision of the technology would make many households much more resilient to these price shocks and more climate sustainable. Will the Minister look at that and take it on board?

On price caps, we in the Social Democrats have also called for these to be introduced. We diverge from Sinn Féin on these caps to a small degree. We ask that the Minister look at caps based on the German model. The caps there are based on a percentage of the historical usage. That would mean we do not run the risk of people, especially the wealthy, overconsuming and not being aware of their energy consumption. Such caps would allow us to plan as they are not open-ended but based on historical usage, and this would enable us to model the cost. Germany has done that and no one can say it is flathúlach when it comes to its policies. It is very fiscally conservative. That sort of cap has worked there and it would give people here certainty. It is not just a matter of the incredible costs people are facing but also the fear people are facing about what those costs will be. A price cap would give people certainty and they need that clarity. I thank Sinn Féin for putting this motion forward.

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