Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)

The programme for Government acknowledges the increased energy cost pressures on households and businesses. I know, as I said earlier, that that is a real issue for people. The programme for Government commits to bringing forward additional measures to address those costs, and we have discussed that. I established a cross-government energy affordability task force. We identified particular measures, which we have dealt with in this budget. A further piece of work we are doing, which I will bring forward, is the final report in 2026. That will look at network charges, structures and so on. There will be a European dimension to this too, and it requires movement from Europe, particularly with regard to the spark gap. That needs to be addressed.

We are committed to reaching our legally binding targets on climate neutrality. We are also committed to bringing about energy sovereignty in this country. As Deputy Ó Cearúil mentioned in the previous question, we have a real opportunity to do that and to secure for ourselves clean energy that is generated and owned by us and that will help us decarbonise our society and reduce our energy bills.

Given the potential impact the RHO could have on end customers, energy affordability and the impact on household energy bills were key considerations in developing the scheme. My Department has carried out extensive analysis and stakeholder engagement, including with energy suppliers, to ensure that final decisions taken in relation to the scheme are evidence based and supportive of its successful introduction. A number of scheme parameters have been designed to allow flexibility to obligated parties in meeting their obligations, which will in turn reduce the overall burden on the end consumer.

Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity market and the implementation of the price review 6 process and its outcomes is a matter for the regulator, the CRU. The CRU is independent and, in relation to the outcome of the price review strategy and associated issues, the Deputy can and may wish to engage directly with it. He should note, however, the significant equity investment the Government is making in the system operators, which we discussed just last night. That in itself is significant-----

See this speech in context