Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

It is beyond time that we end the rip-off of energy bills facing every household and business up and down the country already on their knees with the cost-of-living crisis. More energy increases come at a time when we are already paying the highest levels of energy prices in Europe. That is a badge of dishonour for this Government. How many homes are going to be cold tonight as people try to hold out and not turn on the heat until next month? This staggering cost of energy in the State is a direct result of political choices by this Government. We know 300,000 and 175,000 customers are in arrears in their electricity and gas bills, respectively. If the Government follows through on withdrawing energy credits this winter, the energy regulator has warned that the number of households in arrears could spike dramatically. When is the Government going to wake up on this?

Let me be clear on the actions Sinn Féin wants the Government to take. It is asking the Government to support struggling households. Allocate a €450 energy credit, a real and sizeable measure that would be felt immediately. Hold energy companies to account over the extortionate rates charged to consumers. The wholesale prices are 75% less than they were in their peak in 2022. Why are these savings not being passed on to customers? Take action to reduce the unjust network charges. The CRU draft decision published in July revealed that the cost for data centres will decrease, but cost for households and SMEs will increase. Stop keeping carbon taxes on families who are already struggling to heat their homes, keep their cars on the roads and have no alternative. Can the Minister of State imagine what it is like for a single mother to have to buy a few gallons of home heating oil at a time, then to have to drag that drum through the house, climb up to the oil tank and pour in enough oil for a couple of days for heating? That is the reality for too many people I know who are living in fuel poverty. In the rip-off, get prices under control and support struggling families. That is what the Government needs to do.

I know we are over-reliant on international markets for our energy and there is no hiding of that. We import 80% of our energy, leaving us almost entirely exposed to the markets. Now is the time to diversify our supply, to invest in renewable energy infrastructure and to grow our indigenous energy sector and create Irish jobs. I urge the Government to consider the proposals in this motion to finally end the rip-off of Irish households and to hold the energy companies to account for their extortionate prices.

The Government cannot leave families in the situation they are in going through this winter like this. The energy credits have to be restored as an immediate measure. The Government can have all the plans it wants, and I see in its ridiculous amendment all the backslapping and the good intentions, but there are people tonight who cannot afford to turn their heat on. There are people who cannot afford their electricity bills. The Government has to do something about it.

See this speech in context