Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is useful debate. The warmer homes scheme, which is 100% State support for those at most risk of fuel poverty, gets €118 million out of the total, and rightly so.

I do not have the full details on how the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is progressing on it but it is getting stuck in. It is learning. It is deeply committed. The Government is committed to tackling three issues with all of our heart. These are: tackling the health crisis of Covid and reforming the health system; addressing the housing crisis, which is particularly profound in our areas of the country; and the climate crisis. The climate crisis requires an all-of-government effort and not just from the Department with responsibility for climate action. The €85 million, which is not a small contribution and which will scale up as the Department learns, is targeting those on the lowest incomes. I can understand asking why we are giving something to everyone but we are not. We are targeting it.

The payment was deliberately designed so it could be done quickly. These are the months we need the support. We do not want people out there saying they will turn off their heating now. It will be cold next week and bad weather is forecast. We do not want people who might be at risk of fuel poverty saying they will live in the cold. This is one of the biggest health risks we have. Having it payable now in the teeth of the highest spikes in prices is the right thing to do. Doing it directly through the bill and through the networks means it is a rebate straight back. We looked at a range of issues. Senator Boylan asked about EU emissions trading system funding. We looked at this. The funding would not have covered the amount of money we need. This way is quick and something we could do in an effective low-cost way. It was designed to leave no one behind.

To answer the question about those in the rental sector, the Bill has been specifically designed so that the vast majority will be recipients of the direct credit as they get the bill. In instances where people do not get the bill, there is clear provision for the Residential Tenancies Board to be able to act as a mediator should a landlord not pass on the benefit. This has been designed to protect those in vulnerable positions. Tenants are just as important as the owner of a household.

I am very conscious I am constrained by time. I have probably almost busted my ten minutes. I want to mention a couple of other points. Senators Dolan, Carrigy and others mentioned the transport provisions. The heat of the price crisis at present is in energy and transport because of oil and gas. Gas is increasing electricity bills as well as heating bills because our electricity bills are set by the price of gas. Transport is also a significant cost and it has seen increases. We have to be careful in fighting inflation. If we just pump money into the economy to fuel inflation it could be very counterproductive. We want to give a clear signal to people with regard to their everyday real lives and the bills they have to pay, such as prescriptions and bus or Luas fares. Bringing these down helps, particularly for those struggling to meet day-to-day costs. The reduction in transport costs was also needed.

The measure on transport is also needed because our public transport is slow to come back after Covid. Average patronage is approximately 60% of pre-Covid numbers. It varies. In the regional cities it has taken off. In Limerick I understand it is back to almost 100%. We have introduced new services, such as in Navan and Louth, where we have redirected bus services and these have gone above what we expected. We will have to get more buses and drivers into some of these areas. The new services have taken off.

To respond to Senator Dolan, I do not have the full details on the consultation process with the NTA on Connecting Ireland but I believe it is one of the most important investments in public transport we have made. It has the potential to be creative and efficient whereby, in just the way Senator Dolan has spoken about, we connect our public transport and local link services with local health services, social welfare service and schools. This is an opportunity.

We will have to do this well because there is not an endless pot of money. It is the public's money we are redistributing. It is the tax we pay. Only a government can do this in a clever and intelligent way to do things that only the public service can do, such as a public transport system or protecting social welfare for those who do not have a safety net. Tax is not a bad word from my perspective coming from the left because it gives us the ability to protect or to invest in a way that as a private citizen we can never do. We can never get the security from our neighbours, which is part of our security, if we do not have the tax revenue.

We are going to have to be efficient and clever. We have put a lot of money into these measures because it was important to have a response immediately but the State also needs to get good value from the money we spend coming out of Covid. We must be very clever and smart in how we spend it. I will finish with this thought. I was worried about being a bit inflationary until I heard the Opposition the day after we announced the €500 million calling for spending of €1.5 billion and €2 billion. I will raise them €3 billion. Let us make it €4 billion. We have to be careful.