72. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he is aware of the proposed sale of Bord na Móna Recycling; if he has met with it to discuss this sale; the measures taken to ensure the protection of jobs and pensions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7042/25]

Sentiment score: 0.13

Is the Minister aware of the sale of Bord na Móna Recycling? There is a lot of concern about this. Has he met with the board to discuss the sale? What measures are being taken to ensure the protection of jobs and pensions? Will he make a statement on the matter?

Sentiment score: 0.08

I thank the Minister for his reply. Was there any consultation with the Minister prior to Bord na Móna taking the decision that it proposed to sell off the recycling business? The potential sale of the last public waste company flies in the face of all the latest expert opinion. I come from a place where all of the public waste collection companies were sold over the past 20 or 30 years. Can anybody say this has been a success? There have been recommendations from the Government's own Dublin task force, but rather than further entrenching a dysfunctional, privatised model, which has a history of being bad for workers, customers and the environment, as can be seen in the increase in fly-tipping over the past 20 years, we should follow international best practice and move back towards more public ownership. It is within the Minister's gift to stop the sale. We met representatives from SIPTU last week who said there were serious risks to Bord na Móna Recycling. Nothing is guaranteed for the workers, not their working conditions, pensions or even their jobs. That is their concern and I am sure the Minister is aware of that. Bord na Móna makes massive profits. Will the Minister intervene to halt this sale?

Sentiment score: 0.11

It seems to me, from a practical point of view rather than any ideological one, that the for-profit model of waste collection is not good for society. We must also address the broader issue of rising waste costs because the side-by-side model is bad for workers, it seems to be bad for the environment with all the extra fly-tipping, and it is bad for customers because most of them must keep a certain amount of money on account and must deal with a service charge every month or every six months. The result of the privatisation has been that 23% of households in the State do not have a waste collection. This is because many people either cannot afford to, or do not want to, pay for waste collection. Illegal dumping costs more than €100 million per year to the State. Costs continue to rise. We saw the largest provider, Panda, increase charges to more than 300,000 customers by way above the rate of inflation. The bin company is also raising its half-yearly service charge. This is the inevitable consequence of increased privatisation. It is inevitable that the State or local authorities will take over refuse collection. Again, it is only a matter of time.

Sentiment score: -0.21

74. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the funding model for supporting the roll-out of renewable energy and for supporting the grid; if he has plans to reform current models; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6768/25]

Sentiment score: 0.26

I want to ask the Minister about the funding model for supporting the roll-out of renewable energy, the public service obligation, PSO, levy and the carbon tax, and whether the Minister has any plan to reform current models. Will he make a statement on this? We have great renewable potential. A group of parliamentarians from Germany were here last year and all they wanted to talk about was our renewables potential. What funding models are there?

Sentiment score: 0.25

I appreciate what the Minister has said. It is obvious that the PSO is a vital policy support, as the Minister has said. We have great potential to transform our energy system from import dependence to becoming a global leader in renewables. Significant investment will be required. At present, there is an inequity at the heart of climate change where the causes and effects are not equally shared. Recent Governments have preferred an inequitable model, where there is a disproportionate burden on ordinary households and the wealthiest get off practically scot-free. The indiscriminate carbon taxes place a disproportionate burden on those for whom alternatives are unaffordable or unattainable and they fail to deter the greatest emissions. However, the current Government, including the junior Minister, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, and Government-supporting Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, have agreed to continue to support these increases over the next five years. The public service obligation, PSO, is another regressive financing lever which hits the lowest income hardest. According to the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, the cost of this levy is 12 times larger. In the programme for Government, the Government said it will explore other funding models that will reduce electricity bills for households and businesses. Will the Minister commit to some other funding models that will do that?

Sentiment score: 0.16

The question is about what other funding models the Minister has in mind. There is a broader issue of the increased investment in public ownership as a means of funding and accelerating the transition. Recent governments have created an energy system where profit maximisation seems to be the most important part of it. With the privatisation of our energy generation, the market share transfer from public to private sector means that profits have flown into corporate dividends. Is the Minister happy with that model, which has resulted in increased bills for ordinary people? The transition presents an opportunity now for us to reform our energy system for the betterment of all, but it seems that opportunity is being squandered. As the Minister mentioned, the vast majority of renewable energy under the renewable energy support scheme, RESS, is privately owned or publicly owned by other states. It is crazy to think that Norway's state-owned Statkraft and EDF France own more of our offshore resources than we do. Even more of our renewable resources are owned by private corporations. We feel that there should be increased public ownership. What measures is the Government taking to increase public ownership, if any? Furthermore, what will it do to reduce our energy prices, which are some of the highest in Europe?

Sentiment score: 0.37