First, I congratulate the Minister of State on her elevation. It is obvious that she has to take one for the team, given that no Minister or Minister of State from the relevant Department has come in to deal with this. Fair play to her. However, I am disappointed with what has been prepared as the amendment by her colleagues in government. The Government maintains that it is acutely aware of the pressure faced by people due to high energy costs and mentions the national energy affordability task force. It has been sitting for over a year but we are still going to have to wait until quarter 3 of this year to have the action plan while families and households are suffering. The EV scheme, even though there have been some recent amendments to it, has for the main part been nothing more than a wealth transfer to people who can afford cars that are worth €55,000 or more. The retrofitting scheme has been unaffordable for many people in rural areas. Regarding offshore wind, a Minister of State said on Radio Kerry that the Government had been sitting on its hands and navel-gazing on it. I cannot say I disagree with the wise words from that particular Minister of State. All in all, the Government has been failing on climate action. We have huge potential with the hopeful vision of the 540 GW of renewable energy in offshore wind. We can achieve energy independence but we need State investment. As the Minister of State knows, we have the highest electricity prices in the EU. Recent reports from the ESRI and Eurostat show we are paying 40% more than the European average - €480 more than the average bill - and have the third highest increase in costs behind Austria and Romania. There are a record number of households. Their debt levels are higher and lasting for longer than ever before. The ESRI called for an independent investigation and for the regulator to release the data for independent analysis, but the Government and the regulator have refused. One of the key drivers is network costs. The Government has not intervened. It is saying that we must get the balance right, keep our powder dry and there is nothing it can do. It is saying that it is all the fault of the war in Ukraine and the war Iran and that it is too complex and technical to fix. However, that is not the case. We used to have the lowest electricity prices in the EU and now we have the highest. Fine Fáil and Fine Gael have presided over this change. Not only did they do nothing to stop it, but they reinforced the system. They chose not to intervene and the energy giants are posting about enormous profits, profits that have been driven by crisis, war and instability. There are solutions, though. We believe in transparency and fairness, a just transition, and an energy system that delivers for the public good rather than for corporate profit. We have tabled legislation with commonsense measures to give the energy regulator the teeth it needs to hold energy companies to account, including a prioritisation framework. However, we need immediate action on that. That is why Sinn Féin called for the reintroduction of energy credits. I see that is in the motion that is being proposed by Deputy Ahern. I commend him on bringing his motion to the Dáil to allow space to discuss this. We wanted the electricity credits to give families breathing space while we fixed the deeper structural problems that have left Ireland with some of the highest energy costs in Europe. To reduce prices long term, we need to address the flaws. We wanted to strengthen oversight of energy companies' pricing and hedging strategies, allow the regulator to investigate and sanction anti-competitive behaviour, and increase transparency. Let us come to the Government's reckless approach to data centres. They consume massive amounts of electricity, drive demand and put strain on the grid. Who is footing the bill only ordinary workers and families paying six, eight or maybe ten times more on network charges than data centres are, and double the unit price? What did Eurostat identify in its report as the leading factor in Ireland's extortionate energy costs? Network charges. We must address one of the glaring injustices in our system, which is the imbalance between what households and large energy users like data centres are paying. Households are effectively subsidising the corporations that are driving up demand on our grid and, therefore, prices to boot. The biggest users are paying the least and households are paying the price for these grid upgrades. Data centres must pay their fair share. We need to restructure the charges and the public service obligation, PSO, levy and prioritise the use of our grid for the public good rather than unfettered data centre expansion. Families are dealing with soaring electricity bills. Data centres now consume 22% of Ireland's electricity, and that is only increasing. A stall needs to be put on them and we are calling on the Government to act to rebalance the system.

Sentiment score: 0.07