Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome to the House. It is great to be here and starting Seanad Private Members' business on a very important issue. All of a sudden, it seems that energy is the cornerstone of everything in the economy and society in terms of how we survive but, in reality, that has always been the way. It is the fuel that feeds us, drives us, heats us and it has always been central to how an economy or society functions. Sadly, it is now a weapon of war. The crisis has also made energy a threat to our democracy.Fianna Fáil has tabled this motion, which draws particular attention to the increase in rising prices due to inflationary pressure on the price of energy driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the unprecedented challenges faced by households and businesses. We must ensure that people are supported and protected in the face of the rising cost of living. We must protect those most vulnerable in society. Budget 2023 must be a cost-of-living budget that should contribute to helping every household and business in the country.

As we all know, energy poverty impacts hundreds of thousands of families and individuals every day in Ireland, yet, at the same time, hundreds of millions of euro of clean energy is being dumped as well. The recent ESRI report on energy poverty and deprivation in Ireland warns that up to 43% of households are at risk of energy poverty. The motion specifically calls on Government to ensure to the greatest possible extent that measures are focused on those who need them most such as vulnerable households, carers, persons with disabilities, pensioners and the many thousands of families who can be described as the working poor or the squeezed middle. We must provide specific and targeted financial supports to households and businesses to help with the soaring cost of energy prices and prevent job losses. We must proactively engage with energy companies to address the rising energy prices for households and prioritise the development of renewable energy infrastructure, including expediting planning decisions for infrastructure. This is an emergency. Let us not waste this emergency to do something positive for our people, our climate and our economy. Indeed, all of us are acutely aware of the impact of rising energy prices on households. These households are our friends, neighbours and parents.

It must be highlighted that the Government has taken action throughout 2022. The electricity cost credit of €176, excluding VAT, was applied to 2.1 million households. This was a €377 million measure on top of a range of measures introduced in February to tackle the rising cost of living, including the lump sum of €125 for people in receipt of fuel allowance. People received a fuel allowance payment of €1,139 this year compared to €735 in 2020-21. The Government also ramped up the very welcome home retrofit supports for households. Month by month delivery of free energy upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty have doubled in the past year. This is an achievement and must be recognised. Unfortunately, as we all know, and this is why we are speaking here this evening, these increases and good supports will just not be enough at the minute because of the external costs and the energy crisis. I believe there is a need for a new short-term fuel assistance payment for struggling working families who do not qualify for fuel allowance. Families just will not be able to pay their bills.

I was very glad earlier that Ms Ursula von der Leyen outlined in her state of the Union address to the European Parliament that the European Commission is proposing a cap on revenues of companies that produce electricity at a low cost. These companies are making revenues they never accounted for and never even dreamt of. In a time of such crisis, it is immoral to make such profits on the backs of struggling citizens. In these times, profits must be shared and channelled to those who need them most. We will provide those direct supports to our citizens and businesses and we will take money off those energy companies that are making unjustified gains. There is no other solution and we must do that.

I read that senior Government officials said they are awaiting further details on that European Commission announcement and how much Ireland could expect from those new revenue raising plans. This is welcome news. I am sure it will cushion the blow to the Exchequer of the energy crisis. The emergency levy that will be placed on oil, gas and coal firms alongside the separate measure to cap revenues from renewable electricity generators at less than half the current market price is good news for Ireland. Ireland has the second highest share of wind in its electricity mix with 31% in 2021. Only Denmark is ahead of us at 44%. It shows that we are one of the top two European countries producing wind energy. As has been said previously, a lot has been done but there is a lot more to do. It shows the capacity, however. We are at too low of a level at the minute but it shows the capacity of what this State can do in creating wind energy and sustainable clean energy. That is something to be relished.

I have told the Minister on several occasions that we must work within our own resources to ease the burden on vulnerable homes. We should utilise some of the wasted energy to tackle energy poverty while helping Ireland meet its climate targets. We must ask EirGrid, ESB Networks and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, to work with the Government and Minister and immediately publish a strategy to utilise as much of that wasted energy as possible as we curtail a colossal amount of energy in this in this country. Some €400 million worth of energy was curtailed when the turbines were turned off. We need a way to harness that energy when supply needs are low to create a place for that curtailment to go. We must commence a dedicated programme of work targeted at those who are in or most at risk of energy poverty, seek to reduce the amount of renewable energy wasted in 2023, create targets and mandate the companies to make sure they are reducing wastage. We all know that waste of energy at this minute is a greater sin than it ever has been. We should not waste clean green energy. We must find collective solutions and put mechanisms in place to divert that surplus renewable energy into Irish homes that are experiencing or at risk of fuel property.

One way I outlined to the Minister previously, which I introduced in the Seanad as a Commencement matter few months ago, is EnergyCloud - a not-for-profit way of managing how we can use that wasted energy and put it back into people’s homes. By installing a small bit of infrastructure in someone's hot water tank, he or she can wake up in the morning and the hot water tank will be warm for that home. We can identify the vulnerable households easily. We can install that technology in people’s homes easily and EirGrid can press a switch and direct that wind energy to those vulnerable homes. It is not the whole solution; it is part of the solution. It will create the impetus to make sure wind energy companies are not wasting any energy.

We have much work to do. We need to be ambitious for our renewables. I am so ambitious for what we can do in this country. We can be an energy superpower on the west coast on the periphery of Europe and use our natural resources. Our natural resources are free and thankfully, they are available every day. We need to use them.

Going back to our motion, however, budget 2023 needs to be a cost-of-living budget. It must be targeted to help people, keep people in businesses and keep them warm in their homes.