Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)

As a chemical engineer and a former climate technologist I am gravely concerned by the problem of accelerating energy costs and energy poverty facing our people. In my constituency, the most pervasive reports of energy poverty come from disadvantaged communities in the south inner city, Ringsend and Irishtown. There is also the renter in Sandymount who correctly pointed out to me that he is powerless to improve the energy efficiency of his home, as the SEAI grants do not extend to him, and they cover less than 20% of the cost. Two restaurant owners I met with in Rathmines recounted to me the huge impact of rising energy costs on their ability to run their kitchens or afford their ingredients, and an elderly constituent in Ballsbridge, who rightly said that not everyone in Dublin 2, 4 or 6 is posh and well off, is very concerned that the fuel allowance will not keep up with the inflation of the highest energy prices in the EU.

The overture from the Government often is - I am sure it will be today - that there is a significant energy security problem in Ireland. I could not agree more but that was a problem 20 years ago, when the Taoiseach was first at Cabinet and the State owned 96% of the capacity in this country, as the motion details. It is still a problem today, where the private market owns 73% of the capacity. Where is the urgency to introduce the major structural changes required to tap renewable energy in one of the countries most rich in it? Not only do we have offshore wind energy farms lying vacant all along our coast, but we also have ones like the foreknown Sceirde Rocks project in Connemara being cancelled earlier this year, with no replacement.

As an island nation, we have huge opportunities in tidal energy and minuscule funding to pursue it. A constituent asked me recently why there is not a solar farm on the top of every Government and public building, as the EU promised to fund and complete by the end of this year. Another asked me why we do not have 100%-funded retrofitting schemes like they have in Italy.

There is a better way. The Social Democrats, in the general election, proposed the most significant climate fund of nearly any other party, one that would cover the country in 500,000 solar panels, bringing down energy prices by an estimated 40%. My deputy party leader revealed at the weekend that the €3.3 billion in one-off energy payments over the last number of years could have supplied electricity to 1 million homes if it had been used to build renewable energy projects instead. We would still have had money left over to fund supports for the most vulnerable.

This discussion on energy credits and emergency supports is welcome but until we have a Government that is serious about creating structural changes in our climate and economic systems, we will have more motions and debates like this one, and the Irish people will still be left in the cold wind that was never harnessed.

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