I commend colleagues on bringing this forward. The reality is that the vast majority of people around the country are finding it very difficult to meet their energy costs. We all know that. We can see it in the arrears. We can see it in the difficulty people are having when it comes to the cost of living across the board. All of this basically stems from energy. That is one of the big issues we have. This country has fallen so far behind where it could have been. I remember when Eamon Ryan was in this House talking about how we were going to be the Saudi Arabia of Europe because there was going to be so much energy produced in Ireland. We do not have the infrastructure to deliver that energy to the people in Ireland never mind export it elsewhere. What we have is a situation where the Government has totally dropped the ball with regard to energy infrastructure. Even when we look at microgeneration, a lot of people are putting solar panels on their homes now; I have put them on my home. People can get a grant. The grant was €1,800 but they cost €9,000. That is the reality for most people who are on a low incomes or even reasonably good incomes. They cannot afford to do it because the grant does not come near where it needs to be in order for people to have that possibility of being able to generate their own power. If they want to put batteries in, it is an awful lot more. We need to recognise that Government needs to step up to the mark and assist people to be able to do that and certainly people who are already paying a mortgage, a car loan and everything else. They would not be able to afford to provide the microgeneration they need to be able to because the subsidies that are in place are simply far too low and totally inadequate to be able to do it. This particular legislation to try to get the regulator to have the teeth to be able to see why we have the highest electricity prices in Europe needs to be put in place. That is why I appeal to the Minister to ensure that he supports what we are doing here and that we all work together to try to hold the energy companies to account. It is simply wrong that Ireland is paying through the nose for the mistakes of others in the past.

Sentiment score: 0.05