Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister, Deputy White, will be aware of the issue I wish to raise. I read his statement concerning his discussions with the oil companies and petrol suppliers. I raise this issue because the wholesale price of oil has, I am thankful to say, been dropping. In the past 13 months it has dropped by almost 40%, but the decrease has not been passed on to the consumer in the retail sector. The Minister has, quite rightly, raised this with the various companies just this week. I thank him for and commend him on it. What is regrettable is that the motorist has lost out substantially because the decrease has not been passed on to him at the pumps. There is almost a cartel operating among the companies. They have managed for a very long period to get away without passing on any proportion of the decrease in the wholesale price of oil. It is the consumer or motorist who is losing out.

The Minister mentioned regulation previously. In the absence of any regulator, it is a fact that the oil companies are the main benefactors. They are holding back the decrease and making a lot of money. The motorist is losing out. As regards the petrol and diesel industries, self-regulation is not working. Prices of petrol and diesel vary from place to place. In some parts of this city, the motorist is being absolutely fleeced. There is an onus on us to rein in the oil companies. It is only fair that the decrease be passed on to motorists.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We all want to see the benefits of international oil price reductions translated into cheaper prices for Irish consumers. Our transport sector is almost completely reliant on oil, which is the most prominent heating method for Irish homes. All our oil is currently imported, and this dependency makes Ireland particularly vulnerable to global price volatility. Ensuring a balanced and secure energy mix is therefore one of the priorities set out in the energy Green Paper published by the former Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, last May. My Department is currently considering the significant issues emerging from the public consultation that followed the publication of the Green Paper, and I will be publishing a new energy policy framework later this year.

Brent crude oil prices are currently at a six-year low of approximately $48 a barrel. Irish consumers are benefitting from falling oil prices at the pump. The European Commission's Statistics and Market Observatory, which produces weekly statistics on consumer prices of petroleum products for the EU, shows that the price of petrol in Ireland was €1.25 per litre, including taxes and duties, at the beginning of this week. The price of diesel was €1.19. This is a significant fall by comparison with the price in the same period last year, when petrol was €1.53 per litre and diesel was €1.47.

As the Deputy will be aware, having touched on it in his contribution, the Irish oil industry is fully liberalised, with free entry to the market. While it is Government policy to encourage price competition and consumer choice, neither the Commission for Energy Regulation nor I as Minister have any statutory function in setting oil prices.

Research previously conducted by the National Consumer Agency indicates that the price paid by consumers at the pump is determined by a number of factors. These include the internationally traded price of crude oil, the consequent price at which the refined product is traded in Europe, tax levels and, importantly, the level of competition in the retail market. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which was created by a merger of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority, has a role in monitoring competition in the oil market to ensure the market is functioning correctly and that consumers are not being disadvantaged. This amalgamated body falls under the remit of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

The Deputy implied that consumers, residents and businesses have a reasonable expectation that when the price of oil decreases internationally, as has been the case, this decrease will find its way through to retail prices. In the past week, I have not been meeting oil companies but energy suppliers, namely, the suppliers of electricity and gas to businesses and homes. I sought to meet them to understand their perspective on this issue. The reasonable expectation of the Deputy and citizens, which I share, is that when the input cost decreases, the retail price paid by consumers, and residents in particular, will also go down. I have had very good conversations with pretty much all the energy suppliers in the residential market in the past week. I was happy to welcome the announcement by a number of those companies of reductions in the prices of gas and electricity. Those reductions, while arguably quite modest, are going in the right direction. I do not have a role in setting oil prices. It is not open to me to intervene in this regard, but I have an interest, as do the Deputy and all others, in ensuring that when the input cost decreases, the price of electricity and gas paid by the consumer goes down also.

Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I am not saying there has been no decrease in the price. What I am arguing, as the Minister has acknowledged, is that there is no correlation between the wholesale price and the retail price that he and I, as consumers, pay for gas and electricity. In commending the Minister on his discussions with energy companies, I note that the companies did not make any serious public statement until they were hauled in by him this week or last week.

Up until then, they managed to hide the entire matter from consumers.

In the absence of a regulator one does not expect these energy companies to voluntarily decrease their prices, but two companies with which the Minister held discussions announced within a day of meeting him that they are decreasing their retail prices or considering doing so. I note that in the case of the first one of which I read, the reduction does not kick in until April. That is regrettable. As I stated at the outset, energy prices have been on the decrease for the past 13 months. We are still in winter. I say this because for many families, particularly those with hardship issues, energy is a big cost. It is regrettable that these companies could not follow the example of E.ON in the United Kingdom, which announced an immediate decrease in energy prices. That company is the first to do so in the UK and I hope, for the sake of consumers there, that other energy companies will do likewise. The Minister would probably agree, on the basis that energy companies here have benefitted for almost 13 months, that any decreases they have announced because of his intervention should kick in immediately.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I emphasise that I as Minister have no role whatever in the setting of prices, the determination of prices, or instructing or otherwise requiring companies to change their prices. We all have our views about the legal framework that has been put in place, but this is a fully liberalised market in which the energy companies to which Deputy Maloney referred are in competition with one another. Often consumers are sceptical when they hear Ministers state that people should shop around, but there is a real benefit to be gained from looking at one's energy consumption and considering a switch from one energy company to another, and consumers have made very real gains. I would encourage consumers to consider switching. In other words, people should put this argument to the test, even if they are sceptical about this notion of switching and the competitive environment. They should put it to the test, because there are real gains to be made.

The question I was asked to deal with related to motor fuels and the price at the pump. I do not object to migrating to the other issue, but what I came prepared to talk to the House about was motor fuels. I indicated to the House that there have been substantial reductions in the price of petrol and diesel at the pump. That is factually so. However, we all would like to see the lowest possible prices. I share that view with Deputy Maloney.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

On the third issue, Deputy Ellis is not here at present. I presume the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, is taking Topical Issue No. 4.