Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)

It is more than unfortunate the Minister is not here in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis to address the concerns of people who are really struggling in an emergency.

Over the summer households have been hit with a spate of emergency hikes from Energia, Flogas, Pinergy and SSE Airtricity. They have been told they can expect another at least another €200 to be whacked onto their annual energy bills. In the first week back in the Dáil the Minister does not show to tell us what he is going to do about it. All we know is the supports that have been there over the last number of years are going to be ripped away despite Irish energy costs being the highest in Europe, at €500 above average and 70% above 2022 levels. When I asked the Minister via parliamentary question what impact he thought the withdrawal of energy credits would have, I was told it was not a matter for the Minister but for the CRU. I find it very hard to believe the impact of policy choices is not the responsibility of the Government, as outlined in the letter from the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and that it has no duty to consider and analyse its efforts. The CRU might be surprised to hear about this.

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