Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)

The Government could not have had a more targeted measure than the energy credits that we have had for the last number of years and people are facing the same if not higher energy prices now. The Government continues to blame everyone apart from itself for it. The costs are due to political choices about whose energy needs get prioritised, who pays and who is protected. However, the Government has chosen to prioritise the energy needs of data centres and the profits of energy companies rather than ordinary people who are trying to keep the lights on and stay warm. If we want to bring down energy prices in the long term, the market needs a radical overhaul. We need major reform of the status quo with new measures to hold the energy companies to account rather than the blatant profiteering that has been taking place. We also need a fair funding model for our grid and the renewable transition rather than the Government's regressive approach which makes households shoulder a disproportionate burden of the cost of the network charges and the PSO levy rather than placing the burden on the data centres, which are, relatively speaking, let off the hook. It is possible to change this and I ask the Government to reconsider and redress the unjust burden placed on small businesses and households.

See this speech in context