Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As I said in response to questions from his colleague, I, and everybody in this Government, is well aware of what higher energy costs mean for all sectors of our society. The electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland operate within a regulatory regime that comes from within Europe. These markets are commercial and liberalised. They aim to be competitive and they are overseen by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. At the moment, the Government is considering, insofar as we can, regulatory decisions that could add to the cost of energy within our country.

Regarding taxation, households are currently exempt from the electricity tax while businesses per €1 per unit or megawatt hour for business and non-business use. In addition to the relief for electricity for household use, there is also a relief from taxation for electricity generated from renewable sources. In most cases, this is claimed at source by the supplier. This is intended to accelerate the decarbonisation of our grid and bring down the price of electricity for the consumer. Recently, the Government approved an extension of the 9% VAT rate currently applied to gas and electricity until 31 October 2025 at a cost of €85 million. The programme for Government is clear in recognising that we will consider and then take further decisions in this area to see what we can do to deal with the cost of energy. However, I need to caution against using money we might not have available in the future to pay for measures our country will see as becoming permanent. To many, this is a tough argument to make but it is one that is important to make at the moment.

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