Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

At no point has the Minister of State mentioned that there will be requirements for him or the Department to report to the Dáil. The EU will not tell them they have to report to the Dáil. There is an understanding of subsidiarity here. The EU will not tell the Government what it has to come in and tell us.

The Minister of State will not be reporting to this Dáil on this matter. The Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, will be reporting to the EU. All I ask is that the report the Government gives to the EU would also be laid before this House, to show this House some respect. This is, of course, taxpayers' money. This is money that energy companies took, essentially as part of the profits of war. They took it from people's pockets, which incurred huge pressures on families while that happened. People deserve to know that this money was clawed back and where this Government will be spending it. I ask that the Minister of State would not refer to the EU. The EU is not putting any requirements on the Minister of State to inform this Chamber of anything. Will the Minister of State please tell me that he will take this amendment and that he will use the amendment and commit to actually report to us in this Chamber on how the Government will use the money?

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