Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The text of Senator Boylan's amendment refers to a report "within two months of the passage of this Act", rather than two weeks, so I want to clarify that this is what is intended by the Senator.

I thank the Senator for the amendment. I appreciate that Senators are seeking transparency on the distribution of proceeds collected from the temporary solidarity contribution, TSC. Article 17 of the Council regulation sets out five purposes, any of which can direct the use of proceeds from the TSC. The regulation also states in Article 17 that the TSC distribution measures are to be clearly defined, transparent, proportionate, non-discriminatory and verifiable. The regulation is enforced and therefore the Government must distribute these proceeds in accordance with Article 17. There will be a Government decision on the specific distribution of proceeds from the TSC in the context of budget 2024, which will be made publicly known. The energy poverty steering group, which my Department chairs, will be consulted on the distribution of the proceeds. With consideration that the specific distribution of TSC proceeds will be agreed by the Government within the context of budget 2024, the specific distribution of proceeds will be made available to the public. Therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendment.