Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. A Bill very similar to this one was debated in February. At the time, Sinn Féin tabled amendments removing the references to it being a once-off measure. We knew, as did every expert and the dogs in the street, that this crisis was not going away and certainly was not going to be fixed by a one-off payment. Here we are with more legislation being rushed through the Houses. Once again, the approach of the Opposition has been vindicated. Maybe this time the Minister of State will listen to the Opposition and adopt our amendments.

There are several problems with the design of the electricity rebate. People with holiday homes lying idle for most of the year will now get even more money to help keep the lights on. The most recent census identified 61,204 holiday homes in the State. It is outrageous these vacant holiday homes have still not been excluded from this scheme. On top of the previous €200, they will now get another €600. That is a total of almost €50 million of taxpayers' money to keep the lights on in the second homes of predominantly well-off individuals. There are a further 166,752 vacant homes receiving €600. That is a further €100 million going where it is not exactly needed. It is shameful the Government has not found a way to exclude these homes in the eight months since the scheme was first legislated for. The Government likes to claim this is an emergency and there is no time to tailor the measures. That might have flown the last time but it cannot be trotted out this time around.

The Government likes to say there is a certain fairness in treating each home the same by giving each electricity meter €600. That is not really true when homes are not evenly distributed through society. A millionaire with five homes is getting five times the help compared with an ordinary working-class family struggling to make ends meet in a rented apartment. How can the Government try to tell us that is fair or universal? We have a number of amendments seeking to exclude vacant homes and holiday homes. We have chosen a method put forward by the Central Statistics Office, CSO. The CSO’s analysis of metered electricity consumption found that electricity consumption can be used as an indirect indicator of vacant and holiday dwellings. Houses that use very little are likely to be empty. This measure would exclude 130,266 ESB meters from receiving the rebate. That would mean €69 million euro could be saved by the Exchequer. The Government has continually dismissed amendments aimed at targeting this measure to those who need it on the grounds that it would slow down the roll-out. Nothing in this amendment delays the proposed timeline. This could simply and quickly be applied by ESB Networks and suppliers.

There were issues with Travellers on halting sites being excluded from the original payment. We are led to believe that approximately 1,000 Traveller households in local authority accommodation were excluded from the original payment. Will the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications work with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to devise a way to reach these homes with future supports? It is simply not good enough, eight months after the original scheme, for the Government to say it is looking into it. What does that tell Traveller families about the priorities of this Government? Some of these households are living in extreme energy poverty already and need immediate assistance. "We are working on it" is not going to cut it. The Minister needs to give a commitment that these families will receive the full €600 this winter on top of the €200 they did not get originally.

Pay-as-you-go customers are another category of households that are let down by this Bill. There are 346,000 households using prepay meters in this State. They face higher tariffs, higher standing charges, and people on low incomes are offered no protection against cut-offs. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, had the brass neck to go on "Morning Ireland" today and laud these meters’ so-called efficiency. That efficiency comes from people self-disconnecting and not feeding the meter. The "efficiency" is them going without light and heat.

Sinn Féin has made its position clear. We believe an electricity price cap is needed this winter to give households certainty. We need to reduce electricity prices back to pre-crisis levels and cap them. Regarding what Senator Dooley said, price caps have been introduced right across Europe but this Government has chosen a different path of giving three energy credits this winter. Although we disagree with this approach, we will support the Bill because the €550 in electricity credits will still help offset some costs for people this winter. We will support this Bill but hold firm to the position that reducing electricity prices to pre-crisis levels and capping them at that cost this winter is a far better solution and would give households much greater certainty. Let us do that instead.