Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will open my short contribution by saying that when we consider the situation in the upper echelons of RTÉ and Horse Racing Ireland, not to mention the national children's hospital, it shows how valuable clarity is and how often it is best noted by its absence. The Bill before us also lacks that clarity on how the proceeds of this windfall tax are to be distributed and used. We in Sinn Féin are anxious that they be used for the people who need them most. Among those are the people who get up early in the morning and the people who are lucky to get their head down at all because they are carers 24-7.

It is quite a development in society and quite a legacy of this Government that people who work so hard and contribute so much are the same people who walked around their homes wearing their coats to keep warm last winter, not that switching the heat mattered much to them because the standing charges fleeced them anyway. Constituents in north Kildare who contacted me about the increases in standing charges were in shock and disbelief when they found out that these standing charges were not regulated. It is nice work for those who can get it. The energy companies did it and they could get it while at home people suffered for the privilege of keeping the light on and being able to cook a dinner. These are the people who need help.

Sinn Féin has been on the ball on standing charges. My colleague Deputy O'Rourke and I have tabled a Bill on the regulation of standing charges which is currently on Second Stage. People are facing higher standing charges while trying to save money by reducing their consumption of energy. It is not always about money; it starts with a bit of care, thought and understanding about how people are living, which at the height of the energy cost crisis was in high anxiety, cold and pain. We are looking for clarity here and we will table amendments so that we know where the money is going and to ensure it goes to people who need it most.

We want proper accountability here and, in that context, we propose that this legislation should go even further and increase the amount of these vast profits that are taxable because it is utterly disgusting that these energy companies were able to profit from a brutal war and an energy cost crisis that has hit people so hard here. People in our European state hit hard by energy costs are looking at people in other European states who are now benefiting from lower wholesale prices in the market and are asking, "Why not us?" In government, Sinn Féin would ensure that they got benefits and ensure that energy companies could no longer see the hard-working public as their cash cow, or should I say herds of cash cows. It is just not on. In energy and every other aspect of life it is time for something new and better. Our State needs serious change.

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