Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome No. 20, motion No. 10 on Bahrain, which is signed by all the group leaders. I ask that we keep a very serious watching brief on this situation. I am in regular contact with the Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-violence Organization, BRAVO, which is a group of Irish and Bahraini medics in Ireland. We should keep a very close eye on the situation there.

The ESB announced that its profits for the first six months of this year have jumped by 165% to ¤230 million. This is the same company that last month announced an increase in the price of electricity of nearly 6% and an increase of over 8% in the price of gas. A total of 315,000 of its customers had to enter into special payment arrangements because they cannot meet their electricity bills. This figure of 315,000 people in 2011 is up from 160,000 account holders in 2010.

We do not know the figure for this year to date. When the Electric Ireland spokeswoman was asked about this, she said the price increase will not be reviewed. I do not find that one bit acceptable. Regular customers are falling behind in their payments and are being hit with price increases. What is the view of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural resources, Deputy Rabbitte? Has he spoken to Electric Ireland about this matter?

Based on projections, Electric Ireland will have a profit this year of over ¤500 million, yet it is imposing price increase upon price increase on hard-pressed customers, many of whom are struggling to pay their mortgages and other bills. There have been no pay cuts in Electric Ireland and there has been no pension levy imposed. The conditions in the company are exactly as they were prior to the recession, if not better, and pay increases have been made. How in God's name can we have allowed the company to increase prices - three times in the past six months ? and to have a half-year profit of ¤230 million when 315,000 people cannot pay their electricity bills? What is the view of the Minister on this? Has he been in touch with the energy regulator and Electric Ireland, or will he just remain silent? I have no doubt this issue concerns everybody in this House. How can we allow a company such as this to make a profit of ¤500 million at the end of the year while still increasing its prices?

There has been no clarification whatsoever on the home help cuts. I raised this yesterday and last week. There have been cuts of 950,000 hours this year to date. An additional 450,000 hours are to be cut between now and Christmas, representing a figure in the order of ¤8 million. I am glad to hear that Senator Bacik, in her capacity as Deputy Leader, said yesterday that the Labour Party group has made representations to the Minister for Health. However, will the Minister for Health reverse the cut? To facilitate his answering that question, I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business stipulating that he come to this House, for just 30 minutes, to state specifically whether the most recent cut of 450,000 hours represents Government policy and whether it will stand between now and Christmas. I want clarification on whether the Government will reverse the recent home help cuts on which the Minister signed off.