Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is not a case of whether the ESB will be gouging people in the future. The ESB has been gouging customers for years. People in the Tánaiste's constituency, in my constituency and right across this State pay among the highest electricity costs in Europe. The ESB made profits of €898 million in the last calendar year we have available. That is a significant amount of profit. In the first 18 months, €1.3 billion has been transferred by individuals paying their electricity bills to the ESB. There are serious amounts of costs in terms of ESB bills, not just in terms of running costs and standing charges. While the CEO of the ESB said his comments were insensitive, he has not ruled out that these costs will be borne by customers in 2026. I am asking the Tánaiste to stand up for people who were left without electricity for weeks on end and to make it clear to the ESB top brass that there will be no increases as a result of this. Not only that, but we also expect the ESB to compensate people. Remember, during the term of the last Government, the ESB was fined €37 million for failures in supply. It needs to start compensating people and show some humility.

Will the Tánaiste call the top brass of the ESB and make those points to them?

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