Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

Energy costs in the State are astronomical and are having a detrimental impact on competitiveness. This rip-off of Irish customers was confirmed again today by a recent international report, which revealed that our retail electricity prices are three times higher than wholesale prices, one of the highest price gaps in the world. We are completely exposed to the price of fossil fuels on the international markets and this is driving up the cost of doing business here, with businesses being ripped off.

Decarbonising and renewable energy must be prioritised to address this, but the technology for businesses to decarbonise often requires an upfront investment that is unrealistic and too expensive for many businesses. Existing supports in place from Enterprise Ireland, under the green transition fund among others, are not seeing participation rates that will contribute to Ireland achieving its goals of reducing emissions by 51% by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. What additional measures to assist businesses to decarbonise is the Government putting in place to make energy more affordable, reduce the cost of doing business and boost our competitiveness?

See this speech in context