Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. We are facing into the dark, cold months of winter in circumstances where families, households and workers are going to be hit with increases in the local property tax, fuel costs for transport, student fees, insurance, rent and food. The list goes on. In the past week, four energy companies announced that they are hiking their prices. Energy prices used to go up by 1%, 2% or 3%. Most of us remember that. Now it is 9%, 11%, 12%, 13% and so on. That is the way it goes. Energia is going to increase its prices by 12%, Bord Gais's prices will go up by 13% and Pinergy is putting up its prices by 9%. We have some of the highest electricity prices in Europe. More than 500,000 customers are going to be hit with these increases in the next couple of weeks. Many of them do not have the additional money needed to meet these increases. We already have a record number of people in arrears. It is only in September, and they are still getting bills for the summer months. This is the important issue.

The Government has decided to withdraw energy credits and supports in the upcoming budget, yet it had no problem giving these last year. Millionaires got them. All of us in this House got them. That was absolute insanity. I cannot but reach the conclusion that the Government was trying to buy the election. Helicopter money was falling out of the sky and into households. This year, however, families like that mentioned by my colleague Deputy Healy, disabled people, the elderly and low-paid workers who do not have access to the free fuel scheme or whatever need help. It is the Government's job to try to protect people. Energy companies are price gouging. We know that because of the huge profits they are making. We have among the highest electricity prices in the European Union. Wholesale prices for electricity have dropped by over 70% in the past three years, but costs continue to increase. it is pure profiteering. Over 300,000 households are unable to pay their bills. The Government has also committed to increasing carbon tax, thereby heaping more costs on people.

The PSO levy must be restructured. At the moment, the public are subsidising large companies and data centres when it comes to energy costs. Data centres must start paying their fair share and carry the burden for their responsibilities, rather than having domestic customers do it for them. The PSO levy, at €3.23 per month plus VAT, needs to be restructured. It will change again at the end of September, and it is time for it to be reformed.

I am a supporter of wind energy and of solar, biogas, hydrogen and hydro energy. We need to use all the renewable sources we have. According to the answer to a parliamentary question I tabled received, over the past five years €549 million has been given to private companies developing wind farms. In some years, there was a negative. However, the balance works out at a positive of €549 million. The companies involved are highly profitable. We were told that when we had wind energy and renewable energy, particularly wind energy, it would be a lot cheaper. That has not turned out to be the case. It has turned out to be very expensive. Those companies are being allowed to price gouge. The Government is also providing them with support to set up their operations. In the meantime, the cost of energy, which we were promised would go down with the advent of wind energy, is skyrocketing. The Government needs to explain that.

A previous speaker referred to a very important matter in the context of to who owns this energy. If I heard the previous speaker correctly, he quoted that over 90% used to be owned by the public. That has been flipped on its head, and 75% is owned by large corporations over which we have no control. The Government has no control over them and has allowed this to happen deliberately on foot of laissez-faire policies and liberal economics. It is real Trumpian stuff. The Government might give out about Trump, but it is copying what he is doing economically and handing over key industries to large companies that are leading us on a merry dance and absolutely ripping off the taxpayer.

A number of decades ago, people were reasonably well-off if they had a car and could afford to take one holiday a year. People now cannot put bread on the table. I outlined seven or eight increases that are being introduced. The fuel allowance kicks in this week, and I welcome that. However, it needs to be expanded and targeted better. We must make sure that we help those who most need it in the upcoming budget. There must be an energy credit of at least €400 this year to assist people. If energy prices are allowed to continue to rise before the budget, what will it be like after the budget when the Government heaps on its extra costs? People tell me they are really struggling with supermarket prices and all of the other matters I outlined. The Government is leading people into debt and leaving it to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army and other charities to sort the matter out. The Government is loading it onto the charities and thanking them for their work. That is not good enough. We need a more sustainable way of dealing with this.

I welcome the fact that retrofitting is happening, but it needs to happen quicker. Some of the schemes need to be changed because the upfront costs for people are just too high. Most middle- and low-income workers cannot come up with €25,000, €30,000 or €35,000 to pay for their part of the work. They cannot take out an extra loan on top of their mortgage because it is just not possible for them to do so. We need to examine that matter. I would appeal to the Minister of State to do something about it in the budget. We also need to ensure that windows and doors are included in the retrofitting programme. A great deal of heat is being lost through windows and doors and is not being contained within houses. Many low-income households that are not in the social housing category, namely people who live in private houses but who are cash poor, may own their houses but they do not have the money to retrofit them.

We are facing into the dark, cold winter evenings. Householders, particularly the lower paid, the disabled and other groups, need help. I appeal to the Minister of State not to pass over them in the budget. The Government does not have to buy an election this year. I ask that it not forget those people.

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