Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and Justina for visiting Labre Park on 18 September. He met with families, got involved with the community, walked around people's homes and saw some of the units where the electricity is connected to the trailers. Since his visit to the site, one family has received a new unit that was required for them. I thank the Minister of State and his team for that. I also thank Justina for all her work around the electricity credits for the special measures for 2023 and early 2024.

The one-off measures and short-term fixes, which I speak about this a lot in this House, are not the solution for the future of very poor people. That is something we should look at around what we are going to do next year and the year after that for people who are living in crisis when it comes to electricity credit. A total of 77% of Travellers living in mobile homes are living in energy poverty. Again, we need to be looking at this. I support and welcome the Bill today, and I think anybody living in poor conditions will, of course, welcome the €150 credit that will be rolled out three times over the next year, which is important for people. I am not objecting to the Bill; far from it. However, what I am saying today is that we need to look at future-proofing and insulation in people's homes. Insulation has been around for a long time now and the majority of houses in the country would be insulated, but that is not the case for many people living in trailers and mobile homes or whatever people want to call them. We talk a lot about housing, but for some people, houses are not a choice of accommodation.

I know from meeting with the Minister of State last year that he is interested in looking at how we can warm up trailers for people. That is something on which we look forward to working with the Minister of State in the future. Not to repeat myself, but if a person has run-down windows and he or she is living in a run-down house, it is going to cost that person maybe three times more money than someone who is living in good accommodation. I welcome the Bill and I know many people welcome the supports in this crisis.