Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. The recent cold snap has reminded us all how important it is to have a home that is warm. Light and heat are basic human needs. For too many people, the sight of a bill from their electricity or gas provider strikes them with fear and others simply go without light and heat as they are burdened with energy poverty.

I am currently conducting a survey about people's experience of energy poverty and the preliminary results are heartbreaking. People are in terrible positions where they are being forced to choose between heating their homes and feeding their children. The health implications are dire, and the mental strain is significant. A recently produced ESRI report showed the harmful effects of energy poverty, especially on children's respiratory health.

We know that Covid-19 has exacerbated energy poverty because more people have been forced to stay at home and to use electricity and heat, but for some groups the situation is even worse. Travellers living in mobile homes or trailers are nine times more likely to go without heat than the general population and they spend five or six times more of their income on energy than the rest of the population. Renters tend to live in poorly insulated homes, as do people with disabilities. Those homes are more likely to be rated E, F or G on the BER system.

The warmer homes scheme is welcome for many, but it is not up to the task of addressing energy poverty for many of the groups. It only benefits a subgroup of people who experience energy poverty.A total of 75% of the scheme's beneficiaries are elderly homeowners, but there are many others experiencing energy poverty who are left out. What about the working family that is struggling to make ends meet and earns just too much to qualify for the warmer homes scheme but too little to avail of the grants? I ask the Minister of State to review the eligibility requirements for the warmer homes scheme.

According to the ESRI, there are three drivers to energy poverty. One is low household incomes, making it harder for people to pay their bills. I welcome the fact that the State weighs in with the fuel allowance and social welfare payments. The second driver is inefficient homes, and while the State is doing something to tackle that, I would like it to extend the eligibility criteria. However, nothing seems to happening with the third major driver of energy poverty, namely, high energy prices. Why is the Minister not calling for the State to intervene and regulate the high cost of energy? Just this year there was a 130% hike in the public service obligation, PSO, levy charged on electricity bills, and this hike comes on the back of reductions in the cost of wholesale electricity. Like we have been promised, it is becoming cheaper to generate electricity from indigenous, renewable resources such as wind instead of fossil fuels like coal and gas, but despite the lower costs of purchasing the electricity, the consumer bills are still going up. Why are the savings from the transition not being passed on to the consumer? As a member of the Green Party, I know that it is something that the Minister of State would want to address.

We hear constantly that the PSO levy is set by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, but I believe that that is passing the buck. The Minister of State should be exploring how the CRU calculates the PSO, how it ensures that the transition benefits everybody, and that the PSO does not burden those who are in energy poverty. In previous parliamentary questions, the Minister of State had recommended to households to reduce their consumption of energy or switch suppliers, but this is easier said than done, especially for someone with a poor credit rating. There are tools at the Minister of State's disposal and the State could strengthen its regulatory role. I implore the Minister of State to explore the options in reducing the cost of energy.