Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In paragraph (1), to delete "31 October 2025" and substitute "31 December 2025".

I thank the Minister of State for introducing this measure. We in the Labour Party anticipated last October that we might be in this position at this point in time. The Minister of State was not in her current role then but she may recall that on budget night, when the financial resolution was moved regarding the extension of the VAT reduction for a further period, we proposed that the reduction be maintained at least until the end of 2025. We did so in anticipation of very difficult times for families and that, indeed, has come to pass.

Today, for example, SSE Airtricity confirmed that increases in energy prices it had previously announced will be implemented. The Government's resolution may have been informed by that. Experts, including bonkers.ie and its analysts, are pointing out, as we know from our own experience, that when one electricity company moves, others will surely follow. The ESRI report issued this week shows that low-income families in particular are finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet at the moment. We know sacrifices are being made and that low-income families, especially, including the 1,600 surveyed by the ESRI, are cutting back on heating and groceries. A total of 63% of those surveyed indicated that this is how they have been dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. That is bad for families and bad for society. Families are also cutting back on footwear and clothing.

We also know people are getting themselves into debt because of rising energy costs. We have a problem in this country with energy poverty. The scattergun measures introduced by the Government over the past few years were not targeted enough. Huge resources were allocated to those who may not have needed them. We in the Labour Party did not support that approach. What we need to do if we are to deal with energy poverty is introduce, for example, street-by-street retrofitting programmes. We proposed in our alternative budget and in our manifesto that we should move towards using a goodly portion of the Apple tax resource to implement a genuine national campaign of retrofitting to ensure we address energy poverty and meet our climate ambitions, which we are far away from meeting in 2030. Other energy companies will follow SSE Airtricity's lead in confirming today that the increases it announced last month will come into play. That will affect the average family to the tune of approximately €250. Other companies will follow.

We need an independent analysis of why Ireland has the second-highest energy costs in the European Union. Most of us practising politicians will understand why that is the case. We know we are still far too reliant on expensive fossil fuels to generate the electricity we need. We know we are far too slow to reach our targets in respect of what former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar rightly said was our moonshot moment, that is, offshore wind generation. We can be more energy-efficient, we can meet our energy demands and we can be net exporters of energy if we do that.

I am concerned that the regulator seems to sign off on a routine basis, without any apparent analysis, on all the price increases introduced by energy firms. We have a problem with regulation in this country. The regulator seems to roll out the red carpet for big firms and screw householders and businesses with high energy costs without doing a proper analysis of why the prices are so high. We have toothless regulation in this country and consumers are paying the price.

I welcome this initiative by the Government. We anticipated on budget night last year that it would be required. The Government should have listened to the Labour Party. We made a formal request by way of an amendment to the Government's financial resolution that the reduced rate be extended to the end of this year. We are glad to see it will be extended until the end of October. We have no doubt that families will face more difficulties this year, especially in light of what we are going to hear tonight from Donald Trump. The net effect of additional tariffs will be higher costs for families on this side of the Atlantic and, indeed, on the other side as well. Donald Trump is about to engage in a massive act of national self-harm against his own people. We are all awaiting those announcements with trepidation.

I understand the necessity of bringing forward this resolution. We support it. As I understand it, I have formally moved my party's amendment. Will I get to speak on it later or is this my only opportunity to do so?

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