There is one point in this motion that nobody in this House can dispute. Irish families and small businesses are being crippled by electricity costs and if anyone doubts the scale of that crisis, they only need to look at the figures. At the end of last year, nearly 320,000 households in this country were behind on their electricity bills. That is roughly one in seven homes struggling to keep up. The average amount owed is around €466 per household. That has gone to over €500 now and is rising. That is the reality facing people - not theory and not projections. What happened? At the same time the Government removed electricity credits from the most recent budget, credits that had already been scaled back year after year. People will remember that in budget 2023, households received €600 in electricity credits. That dropped to €450 the following year and then to €250 in budget 2025, paid in two instalments. This year, there was nothing. At the very moment when families are under the most pressure, support has been taken away. It is no surprise arrears have surged. Our energy system is under serious pressure. Our grid is stretched. Our reliance on gas remains far too high and the delivery of offshore wind and renewables has been far too slow. That is not the fault of ordinary people. That is a failure of Government planning and delivery over many years. We hear a lot in this House about climate being blamed for flooding, and yes weather patterns are changing and we accept that. However, before we blame everything on climate, we need to look at what is happening on the ground. We have walked away from the basics. The ditches are blocked, the drains are choked and the rivers and waterways are all not being maintained any more. Years ago, this work was done as a matter of routine and it made a difference. Now people are tied up in red tape. They are afraid to clean a ditch or clear a drain and the result is simple; water has nowhere to go. When water has nowhere to go, it floods homes, farms and roadways. Yes, we can talk about climate but let us talk about common sense. Start by clearing the ditches, maintaining the channels and doing the basic work we know prevents flooding because until we do that, we are only dealing with half the problem. Independent Ireland would be slow to support a blanket moratorium on data centres. That approach risks jobs, undermines investment and sends out a damaging signal that Ireland is closed for business. Data centres are part of the modern economy. They bring employment, tax revenue and opportunity, particularly to regional Ireland. The problem is not growth; the problem is that the infrastructure has not kept pace. Nowhere is that clearer than in our approach to EVs. We are telling people they must transition. We are setting targets and deadlines but the reality on the ground is that the system is simply not ready. The public EV charging infrastructure in this country is not fit for purpose; it is far from it. It is too complicated. There are too many providers, too many apps and too many accounts. People are expected to download app after app just to charge their car. When they finally arrive at a charging point, it is out of service, blocked or so slow it is practically useless. That is happening every day across the country. Then we ask why people are reluctant to make the switch. If you want people to move to electric vehicles, the system must work and it must be simple. Anyone should be able to pull up, plug in, tap their debit or credit card and charge their car. It should be as simple as buying fuel with no apps, no confusion and no barrier. As a matter of fact, the only place I have been told about in Ireland - there probably are more but people have checked it out fairly well - is in Schull in Jeremy Brosnan's Centra. You drive up, plug in the car, tap your debit card and the car gets charged. It is simple and all people want. They do not want complications. We are nowhere near that standard around the rest of Ireland. There is also a rural reality here that cannot be ignored. In many parts of rural Ireland, there are simply not enough charging points, if any at all. People are being asked to change but without the infrastructure to support them. That is not a fair ask. A lot of people, particularly older people or those not comfortable with technology, are completely turned off by the system as it stands. It is a major barrier to progress. The same disconnect applies when we talk about solar energy. Families are being told and encouraged to install solar panel and want to do so but the numbers simply do not stack up. For a typical household to install a system that would truly meet all their needs, powering their home and perhaps an electric car, they are looking at a cost of €20,000. What is the grant? It is €1,800. It is probably the lowest in Europe, the UK and Scotland. That is not an incentive. It is nowhere near enough. It does not bridge the gap for ordinary families. Again, the issue is not willingness. The issue is that supports do not match reality. If we had invested properly in grid infrastructure, in renewables and in practical supports, we would not be in this position today. Instead of shutting down investment through moratoriums, we should be building capacity. We also have serious concerns about the proposals for new levies on data centres. We know how this works. Costs introduced in one part of the system often end up being passed on elsewhere.

Sentiment score: -0.02