Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about the energy crisis. I thank Sinn Féin for giving it to us.

What I have to say I have said several times before. Since Bord na Móna was closed down by the previous Government in 2020, the cost of electricity has gone up day by day. That is a fact. In the past week or two, different energy companies have been raising their prices by 10%, 12% and 13%. Then we hear that one company has brought down the price by 4%. No one knows what is going on. Does the Government know? We were supposed to have an energy regulator, but there is no account in the world of him. I am asking the Government to bring that fellow and whatever team he has to task because they are not playing their part.

Social houses that are built now do not have any chimneys, meaning people are totally reliant on electricity. Many of these people are not able to pay their way, and many thousands are behind in the payment of their electricity bills. I ask the Government to look into this and the energy regulator to do something about it. Where individuals build their own houses, the banks are stopping them from putting in chimneys or having solid fuel heating because they want the energy rating as high as possible. Chimneys always let bad air out and good air in. The different approach is hurting people in many ways and it is ridiculous.

Elderly people applying for the energy grant to upgrade their homes have been told by the SEAI, including this week, that they will have to wait for at least two years. Can you imagine what two years is to someone in their late 70s or early 80s? It is like being told it will never happen in their lifetime. They worry more at that age, and it is not fair. When the Government says money it is collecting – including through the carbon tax, which I totally have opposed over the terms of the past two Governments or since I came up here the first day - is being put into the SEAI and being used to heat homes, I say to it that it is not reaching the people at all. It is taking too long to come to them. It is not fair to have them waiting two or two and a half years.

Small businesses are closing day by day. Eenergy costs are the main reason for this. Those businesses cannot bear the burden of the cost any more. They are totally reliant on electricity and gas. Then we hear that Ireland cannot purchase gas on the open market when it is cheapest. The Minister of State should listen to this because it is very important. We should be able to store any amount of natural gas in the Kinsale gas field. It is not being utilised at all. We are being told we have to purchase the gas when we need it, whatever the price. That is not right. I ask the Minister of State to consider this in order to determine whether we can store gas when it can be bought cheaply, not operate the way we are operating at the moment whereby we have to buy when we need it, regardless of the price. It is ultimately the customer who has to pay for it.

Old people are struggling to keep their homes warm. Families with children have to be kept warm and people are fearful about the cost of electricity. Every man and woman on the road is suffering because of the cost of fuel owing to the carbon tax.

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