Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to ask if the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, could come into the House for a discussion on energy. The two big main players in this country at the moment are the ESB and Coillte. We should know their plans going forward. This behoves the Minister to come into the House to outline that to us.

The other issue I would like to raise is on the tariffs that are being paid to domestic customers. I feel that that tariff should be raised. This is because the ESB is enjoying free electricity from people who are putting some energy into the network and no tariff is being paid at the moment. They have raised the price of the charges that they are charging for the ESB. The gas companies have, too. Yet, the tariff does not seem to have gone up. The tariff that has been set, or that has been proposed to be set by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is 10 cent per unit. That tariff should be raised. It should be paid to the domestic customers immediately, because they are supplying into the grid as it is.

I would also like to raise the issue of battery packs. There is some ambiguity about whether you need a battery when you have a smart meter. Some people are saying you do need a battery. We need the Minister to come in here as a matter of urgency to deal with all of those issues. We are in a great position here to produce energy. We will have long days from now until September. The domestic input can be quite sizable, as well as the main production, whether it is onshore or offshore, or whether it is the ESB or Coillte, or the ESB and Coillte working hand in hand to produce a resource that we have in abundance in this country. We should be tackling this on all fronts.