Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

As with many other Senators, I am conscious that today is a momentous day. We stand at a crossroads.

I congratulate Senator Quinn on the Bill he introduced yesterday. In my contribution to the debate, I set out both sides of the argument. Unfortunately, some of the issues arising from the Senator's Bill will create difficulties from a constitutional perspective. To be fair to both sides, a number of the proposals made by Senators on the Government side would make the Bill more sustainable from a constitutional perspective. It should be understood, however, that the Seanad has placed the issue on the table of the Government. However, responsibility for this issue does not lie with one of the Labour Party Ministers. Dare I suggest that if that were the case, legislation probably would have been introduced by now, although that is neither here nor there.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul announced this morning that the annual cost of energy for families has increased by €500 per annum and the society has increased spending on helping families with energy costs from €3.8 million to €10.4 million. Fuel poverty is a serious issue and one which I have raised on a number of occasions. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has made a number of positive proposals on how to assist families in this area, including by rolling out pay as one goes meters, which give families more control over their energy costs. The bottom line, however, is that thermal efficiency is the answer to this problem.

I congratulate the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, on making additional finances available to local authorities. From my time on Dublin City Council's housing strategic policy committee, I am aware that the measures being rolled out for local authority housing will save tenants on average one third on their energy bills in a short period. The answer is not so easy for the many people in poverty who live in the rented sector and depend on rent supplement. A strategy is required to improve thermal efficiency in rented homes. I ask the Leader to raise this matter with the relevant Minister.