Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Energy prices and the cost of fuel are some of the biggest issues facing people. I am always intrigued when I hear many of the various organisations that comment on the economy warning against investment in infrastructure and how it could create inflation. The truth is that the two biggest drivers of inflation in this country are the costs of housing and energy. Investing in those two areas will help bring inflation down. That is why it is vital the Government recognises that Ireland having among the highest electricity prices in Europe is a situation that needs to be tackled. There are a number of ways of tackling that.

When it comes to people’s homes in particular, we also have to look at the issue of retrofitting. We need to make sure the people who need the most help, that is, the people with the coldest homes, the least amount of opportunity and in the poorest position to try to do anything about it, are given the most help to ensure they can invest in retrofitting their homes, obtain solar panels and all of that work. People want to do it. I am in contact with people across my constituency all the time who want to engage in those things. The difficulty, however, is that they have a mortgage, a car loan, children in school and all these other things and payments which put them in a position in which they cannot afford to take the loans the Government offers for them to do it. It is simply not possible for them to take on more debt at a time when they are not able to afford what they already have.

While the Government is doing a little bit in this regard to help people, there is so much more that needs to be done in a planned and rational way to ensure we tackle the issue of high energy and electricity costs as well as the issue of our housing sector.

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