Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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173. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to provide an update on the work of the National Energy Affordability Taskforce and its work on drafting an energy affordability action plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46560/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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In June 2025, my Department formed a National Energy Affordability Taskforce to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses, operating within the broader policy context set by the Programme for Government and Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021.

A key output of this Taskforce will be to develop an Energy Affordability Action Plan which will identify a comprehensive range of solutions including demand-side solutions for households to allow them to adjust their energy demand and avail of low cost renewable energy.

The formation of the Taskforce and the Affordability Action Plan provides an opportunity to consider the broad range of factors which influence energy costs, and potential supports to those most vulnerable to high energy costs. It will include targeted measures to support households in energy poverty to meet the cost of energy, as well as structural reforms within the energy sector to lower costs for households and businesses.

Taskforce members are currently working to finalise the preparation of an interim report, which will set out measures for consideration as part of the Budget 2026 process, in advance of further analysis and the publication of the Energy Affordability Action Plan.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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174. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to outline any legal impediments to re-introducing the market revenue cap in the wholesale electricity market to guard against spikes in the gas markets increasing all electricity costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46600/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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This question refers to a temporary measure introduced under the Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Act 2023, which was enacted in November 2023 and commenced on 4 December 2023. This Act implemented a cap on market revenues of licensed producers of electricity with a capacity greater than one megawatt, authorised intermediaries of such producers and persons authorised to sell electricity on behalf of producers, as required in Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 of 6 October 2022 on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices following the invasion of Ukraine.

The intervention in the European electricity market represented by the Regulation was designed to avoid creating negative investment signals or a country-specific risk. Accordingly, Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 called for “exceptional, targeted and time-limited measures” to mitigate high energy prices. An open-ended cap on revenues was not envisioned and the Regulation included an explicit expiry date: “Given the exceptional nature of the measures set out in this Regulation, and the need to apply them in particular during the winter season 2022-23, this Regulation should apply until 31 December 2023.”

The design of the Regulation reflected a view that an emergency intervention to mitigate the effects of high energy prices could not be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and required action at European level. Recital 27 noted that a uniform Union-wide cap “is best suited to preserve the functioning of the internal electricity market, as it maintains price-based competition between electricity producers based on different technologies, in particular for renewables”.

Moreover, the Regulation reflected a policy aim of preserving price incentives to reduce energy demand and save energy, enabling energy producers to recover their investment and operating costs and incentivising investment in a decarbonised and reliable electricity system.

In light of the above factors, the Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Act 2023 enabled a cap on market revenues to be applied for the period beginning on 1 December 2022 and ending on 30 June 2023. There are no plans to renew this temporary measure.