Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this debate and the token of money being given, but that is what it is - a token - because the ever-increasing cost of energy is putting people under enormous stress. This Government, more than any other government, has been telling people to use more electricity, including electric cars and electric heating in homes, while the cost of it gets higher and higher and the supply of it gets shorter and shorter.

I do not want to let this opportunity go without reminding the Minister of State and her Government what the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, did with Shannon LNG, which would have given us a surety of energy in this country. He sabotaged it. He purposely, meaningfully and deliberately set out to sabotage it. The Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, went to north Kerry. He canvassed the area. He said, "Vote for my candidate and I will deliver an LNG facility here." When he came up to Dublin he forgot about north Kerry, south Kerry, mid-Kerry, east Kerry and west Kerry - he forgot about Kerry. He forgot about Limerick and forgot about Clare. All he wanted was to be Taoiseach or Tánaiste and to deliver all the Ministers and Ministers of State into the seats they are in. He forgot about the real people, however, the people of Ireland who wanted a surety of energy. It is because of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the rest of them that we are finishing up in the situation we are in now, whereby we have less and less supply and are over-reliant on England, France and everywhere else for energy. The lights probably will go out eventually in this country. When they do, people will see the mess the Government is after making of everything. Its answer is to give people a couple of €150 credits and say that is great and we will forget about it. I am sorry, but that is not good enough. People may think this Government will be forgiven or forgotten for what it has done with regard to energy. The only thing it was successful in doing - it did it well - was attacking and shutting down Bord na Móna. My God, is that not a big boast for the whole lot of them to have? It is a big shame.

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