I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." In Ireland we have huge potential for a hopeful vision and we have a natural gift of 540 GW of renewable energy in offshore wind. We can achieve energy independence if we have the requisite motivation and we can return to the days when we had the lowest electricity prices in Europe, if there is State investment and development. However, we are currently paying the highest electricity prices in the EU. Recent reports from the ESRI and Eurostat show that we are paying 40% more than the European average, €480 more in average bills and we had the third-highest increase in costs, behind Austria and Romania. These figures are from 2025 and do not take into account the recent increases in the cost of pre-pay power. Heat and power are not luxuries; they are basic necessities that should not cause households to spiral into debt. There is now a record number of households in arrears, with nearly 320,000 unable to keep up. Their debt levels are higher now and they last far longer than ever before. We in Sinn Féin are not the only ones calling this into question. The ESRI has called for an independent investigation and for the regulator to release the relevant data for independent analysis. However, the Government and the regulator have refused. One of the key drivers, according to Eurostat, is network costs. The Government has not intervened. It says we must get the balance right and keep our powder dry, there is nothing it can do and it is all the fault of the war in Ukraine or now the attacks on Iran. However, the question remains: why are we paying the highest price in Europe? Why do our bills fall more slowly here in response to falling wholesale costs when compared with other countries? This do-nothing Government is out of touch. It is sitting on its hands while people are pushed to the pin of their collar. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael continue to act as if workers and families are in a position to wait until the budget later on this year, but people are struggling here and now. They keep asking themselves just how bad it has to get before the Government will step in and act. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want people to believe that these prices are out of their control and that they are too complex and technical to fix, but we can see that Irish households are being fleeced. Ordinary workers and families are being hit with sky-high bills, as well as exorbitant rents and steadily increasing grocery prices. On top of that, mortgage payments and car insurance costs - which are still stubbornly high despite all the breaks and concessions given to that industry - and the cost of childcare are all increasing. The list goes on. After all, the Minister must know that Ireland once had the lowest electricity prices in the EU, and now we have the highest. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael presided over this change. Not only did they do nothing to stop it, they have reinforced the system that caused it. They have chosen not to intervene. They have chosen to protect the corporate bottom line instead of intervening to protect ordinary workers and families. People are saying the same thing: enough is enough. Meanwhile, energy giants are posting enormous profits, driven by crisis, war and instability. It is not just wrong; it is indefensible. This is not inevitable. There are solutions. This can be fixed by political decisions, but just requires the will so to do. In Sinn Féin we believe in transparency, fairness and an energy system that delivers for the public good rather than corporate profit. If companies are not profiteering or price-gouging, they should put their money where their mouth is and prove it. They should be held to account. That is why we are bringing forward legislation which is practical and contains common-sense measures to give the energy regulator more teeth to hold the companies to account. Energy credits are essential as an interim measure because we need immediate action. We are calling for the reintroduction of energy credits to give families breathing space now, while we fix the deeper structural problems that have left Ireland with some of the highest energy costs in Europe. We want to reduce prices for the long term but, to do that, we need to address the fundamental flaws at the heart of our energy markets. Our proposals here would strengthen the oversight of energy companies' pricing and hedging practices, allow the regulator to investigate and sanction anti-competitive behaviour and increase transparency by requiring companies to provide detailed pricing data and make energy affordability a central priority, not an afterthought. For too long, energy companies have operated without meaningful scrutiny. Take the Government's approach to data centres. They consume massive amounts of electricity, drive demand and place massive strain on our grid, but who foots the bill? Ordinary workers and families. Households are paying a whopping six to eight times more in network charges than data centres and double the unit price. What did Eurostat identify as the leading factor in Ireland's extortionate energy costs? The same network charges. I will come back to the rest of it later on.

Sentiment score: 0.05

This all goes back to the fact that Ireland once had the lowest electricity prices in the EU. We now have the highest. Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have presided over this change, did nothing to stop it and in fact reinforced the system that caused it. I thank all of the other speakers of the Opposition, maybe bar one, who agreed with many of the merits in this Bill and who are calling for more transparency. We agree with their calls for more transparency, more public trust and more power for the CRU. We agree on many of the issues. Indeed, we agree with some of what the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, said earlier on. He acknowledges the problems and accepts that extra powers are needed for the CRU to be revamped. Where we disagree, however, is where the Minister said that this is premature. That has been the problem to date because Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are continuing to act like workers and families are in a position to wait until next year's budget, but they are not able to wait that long. The Government may say that there is a review in place or that a review has been completed, and we have to wait for the energy affordability task force, which was established about a year ago but still has not recommended any reforms. Unfortunately, people do not have the luxury of waiting around for that. I have listened to what has been said. Unfortunately, the Government is way behind with the retrofitting grants. EV-charging infrastructure and EV cars are weighted too much in favour of the wealthy. It is not fair. We are way behind on offshore wind. We are way behind on the onshore guidelines, and it is no wonder that one of its own Ministers said in an interview that the Government has been sitting on its hands and navel gazing about offshore wind. It has been way behind, and nothing has been done even in relation to the energy cloud. In the course of the debate, the Minister for State mentioned the disconnection moratorium but there are many people who are on prepay or pay-as-you-go plans. In effect, there is a disconnection policy in place for all of those people. The problem is that we do not have statistics or the data. We need the CRU to be revamped. The Minister of State referred to the energy credits which were in place in the months running up the last election and then stripped away. The new alliance between Deputy O'Connor and the Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, whereby they are tapping each other on the back, is unfortunately distracting from the main issues. We need a windfall tax. We need transparency and we need the CRU to be revamped.

Sentiment score: 0.05