Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 12, lines 1 and 2, to delete “1 December 2022 and ending on 30 June 2023” and substitute “1 July 2022 and ending on 31 December 2024”.

For Sinn Féín, probably the most objectionable part of this legislation is the limitation of the cap to the period from 1 December 2022 to 30 June 2023. It specifically catches the seven-month timeframe during which there was a notable surge in wholesale gas and electricity prices resulting in substantial profits for renewable energy companies, especially in the latter part of last summer. Some countries have retroactively extended similar schemes further back so that they capture the really excessive profits that were being made. Since the deadline of 30 June has already passed, this measure is inherently retrospective. I propose including those excessively high profits from last summer by extending the scheme back to 1 July 2022. Additionally, following the precedent set by other EU member states, we could consider extending it on the other end to 31 December 2024, although our primary focus is more on capturing those excessive profits that were made in 2022. As I said, it is already a retrospective scheme. There is nothing preventing us from doing that. I would like to hear the Minister of State's justification as to why we are excluding the time period where the really excessive profits were being made.