Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone who contributed to the debate. I will come back on a number of points but it is clear from the debate and listening to the Government's response and reading its extensive and long countermotion, that it has not done enough to protect consumers, to rein in energy companies, and to ensure fair practice within the energy sector here. That failure is not measured in statistics but in the human and social cost. We have it in terms of statistics, in that 377,000 people are living in energy poverty, according to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and there is a significant increase in arrears, particularly on the domestic gas side, with one in five domestic accounts now in arrears. Government points towards retrofitting and the measures it has taken. We know there are huge delays in people accessing retrofits, which is based on means in the first instance, and for those who do not have the means, the wait is incredibly long.

I challenge the Minister, Deputy Ryan, in his assertion that the windfall tax here will be the most aggressive in the European Union. It will not be. He asked us to point to other countries that are being more aggressive in terms of the individual thresholds within the measures. I can point to France, which is introducing a threshold of €100 per kilowatt hour for wind, solar, and nuclear. Ireland will introduce a threshold of €120. More importantly, we can point to other European countries which tackle the super excess profits that were made in the summer to autumn period of 2022. These profits are not being captured by this windfall tax. It is fair enough that the European regulation prescribes a certain formula but other countries have recognised the offensiveness of the profits made in that period. I refer to renewables companies in Ireland and the Government's own measure. Some €92 is a reasonable measure and additional profits are allowed on that but in truth, last autumn, renewables companies here were getting multiples of €92. They were never expecting that. Profits were up to five times that. These were obscene profits which were never expected and were unfair.

The Minister of State used the word "unfair". The Government does not have a plan to tackle those profits and to reinvest them to protect vulnerable customers and people who are exposed. The Minister of State said the windfall tax would be ring-fenced to protect energy customers. In my understanding, that is not clear in relation to the temporary solidarity contribution. I think we will hear more on that. There has been a very significant reduction in the projected intake from the cap on market revenues. Due to delays by Government, we failed to capture that period when wholesale gas prices were at their highest. There is an acknowledgement in the Government's response and in its countermotion of the need for additional resources for the CRU, which is welcome. It is also welcome that there is a plan in place.

It is also very clear to anyone who reads the Government's proposed amendment that the CRU does not have the requisite powers to hold energy companies to account. The deregulation of the market has been a resounding failure for energy customers here. We have seen a 150% increase in the cost of electricity to consumers in Ireland since 1999 compared to a fraction of that increase in other European countries, and this is because of the failed deregulation policy of this Government. We must strengthen the power of the regulator and hold energy companies to account.

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