Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the ESB workers who risked their lives not only after Storm Éowyn but also after the severe snow alert. Eighteen days later, power has not been restored for many. For others, the power returned only to go back out again. Although Storm Éowyn was severe, power cuts are not unique to this storm. Despite paying the highest electricity prices in Europe, many people are regularly left without power.

I received an email from someone in the Brosna area of County Kerry who said she can count at least ten power outages since 2 July 2024. Along with those, there were another six planned outages. She says it is critical the ESB provide a genuine explanation because there are financial implications. She had to throw away food that had been spoiled. They were cold and left without heating. Many of these letters came to my office. In the woman's area of Brosna, there have been at least 22 power cuts in the past year. Six were planned; the remainder were unplanned. Nineteen of them were unrelated to Storm Éowyn. This is the regular level of service constituents have, unfortunately, come to expect. They have told me they are forced to live off-grid at considerable expense. Many people, including me, were shocked by the comments from some people in the ESB, who said customers would have to pay for upgrades or repairs, warning that inevitable price increases would come on top of already extortionate bills. Is the ESB trying to pull a fast one?

For years the energy regulator has warned the ESB that, unless it got its act together, repeated and prolonged power outages were inevitable. In 2023, the CRU was highly critical of efforts to that point, stating the ESB was way behind targets and significant improvement was needed. Similarly, the Government’s 2019 sectoral adaptation plan warned of the dangers that lay ahead, highlighted the need for improvements to make the network more resilient and called specific attention to the risks of falling trees. Despite this, the Government and ESB have been asleep at the wheel. As a result, communities feel they have been left abandoned. Have they no regard for the havoc the outages wreak in people’s lives?

I had arranged for a meeting with the ESB in Brosna to address the power cuts but it was cancelled in anticipation of the storm. Fair enough, but people deserve answers. The ESB owes the people of Brosna and communities like it a full explanation of why their lives are repeatedly brought to a standstill. I ask the ESB to hold a meeting and to compensate customers for loss of service and costs incurred in finding back-up sources of power. Also, the PSO levy and standing charge must be suspended during power cuts. It is the least the Government can do.

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