I will return later in my contribution to the aspects of the debate my party colleague has raised. The 2 cent reduction in the NORA levy is a drop in the ocean for homeowners and householders who are relying on home heating oil, the hundreds of thousands of people who are not going to benefit from the excise cuts, which the Social Democrats supported, and the people who will continue to find it very difficult to put a half-fill or a fill of oil in their tanks. The Social Democrats have repeatedly acknowledged that we are in the middle of a crisis that will require emergency-type solutions in the short term that can offer some level of respite to people. This reduction of 2 cent is the absolute bare minimum and it really will not make much difference to people. Instead, what the Minister should have done is target the use of public money to support people who are most in need. We have repeatedly asked him to bring in a €400 electricity credit targeted at the people in the lowest 40% of the income distribution. That would assist 800,000 people in this country with their energy bills. We are not calling for a broad-brush energy credit because that would not be targeted. This was consistently our position in the previous Dáil. There is a huge wastage of public money in the non-targeting of such measures. The best, simplest and quickest way to assist every person who is really suffering from the high cost of electricity and gas following the Ukraine crisis, and now the high cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil as a result of the current war, is to provide a targeted energy support. It is unfortunate that the Government has not done so. We in the Social Democrats hope that at some stage in the very near future it will bring forward that energy credit. This crisis did not start four weeks ago. There are many people still trying to recover from the impact of the high energy costs incurred as a result of the Ukraine crisis. The ESRI has advised against the approach of introducing measures that are not targeted. It has shown that the last time this approach was used, 50% of the cost of the measure went to the top 40% of households. The statistics are there to show this is not the best way to deal with these issues. A targeted approach is certainly the preference of the Social Democrats. In the absence of that, we have supported the excise reduction and we will support the 2 cent reduction in the NORA levy. However, as my party colleague has stated, we have concerns about this Bill. It is much more far-reaching than what was originally proposed, which was just a two-month cut. The Social Democrats have consistently supported carbon tax because we understand we need to move away from fossil fuels and fossil fuel subsidies and ensure people who are least able to do so can transition away from those fuels. The revenue collected from carbon tax offered the Government an opportunity to ensure a just transition. There was a chance to use that money to ensure lower income families can have warm homes, lower energy costs and an opportunity to avail of solar panels and electric cars. These are the changes we all need to make but lower income families will find it much more challenging to do so. That is why the Social Democrats have always supported carbon tax. However, I find it bizarre that at the same time the Government is being critical of Sinn Féin for not supporting the carbon tax on the basis that the money is ring-fenced and will go to energy and climate action measures, it is, in essence, doing the exact same thing with the NORA fund. It is just called something different. A lot of people do not understand where the money from the NORA levy goes and for what it is used. The Government is using that to its advantage and is really just playing with words here. It is incredibly disappointing that the Bill includes a mechanism for ministerial discretion to extend these provisions for 18 months. The climate action fund plays an incredibly important role in supporting communities, small businesses, households and the public service to implement climate action measures. The ESB availed of the climate action fund to put in charging stations all across the country. Schools are using money from the fund to put solar panels on their buildings. A huge range of very important measures are being supported by this fund. Why would the Minister want to take money out of those programmes? Why would he decide this is the best place to find State funding to support people who are facing huge difficulties because of the war in Iran? Why is the Government sticking so closely to carbon tax, stressing how important that is and being very critical of other parties for not supporting it while at the same time doing exactly the same thing? When talking about extending this to 18 months, it is important that the Minister explain to us the programmes he is planning to cut. Will he cut community climate action projects, retrofitting of public buildings, electricity charging infrastructure, solar PV and district heating projects? Will he cut all those? Will he cut the climate officers in the local authorities? Which local authorities will he pull climate officers from? These projects are all fundamentally dependent on the revenue streams from NORA. There has to be some honesty in this discussion and it is unfortunate it has not been there so far. We are only on Second Stage and we have tabled an amendment to that effect. We would ask the Minister to seriously consider that amendment because this provision does not need to be extended beyond two months, in the same manner that the excise reduction has not been extended for longer than two months. So, we would ask that you actually seriously consider this, Minister. Minister?

Sentiment score: 0.04

I will speak to both Ministers then. I would ask that they look at the amendments we put forward and not use this Bill to extend this provision to 18 months and essentially pull all the funding that is going into the climate action fund for things like solar PV for schools, EV charging units, the community action funds, and the community and climate officers in the different local authorities. Many really important projects are funded by this scheme. Please do not use this as a way to pull the funding for 18 months. This is €200 million that should be going to climate action and to support communities so that they can actually move away from fossil fuels, which apparently is an aim of the Government. Please do not pull that money from them. We will be debating this later on but I would ask-----

Sentiment score: 0.26

I thank the Minister. I also want to talk about price-gouging. The CRU was mentioned earlier. The CSO reported this week that wholesale electricity prices have dropped by 72% since the peak in August 2022. We have not seen a 72% reduction in retail prices here in Ireland and indeed many people are still really suffering from the incredible costs of electricity and gas as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. The Minister has called on the CRU to look into aspects of price-gouging in the energy sector and to consider what level of pass-through is occurring from wholesale to retail. That was a recommendation of the task force last year. I have not heard anything back from the CRU yet. Within its legislation, the CRU has the provisions to be able to do this anyway. It is something it should be doing on a regular basis and not waiting for a Minister to direct it to do so. It has responsibility for ensuring fairness in the energy markets for consumers. It should have the wherewithal to use the legislation that is available to it and to do this when it deems it fit. However, it seems very lax when it comes to these kinds of matters. It waits for there to be a public outcry and for a Minister to direct it. I do not understand how it does not see it as a normal part of its remit. Anyway, we have not seen any response or any report from the CRU and it is really important that that happens. Alongside that, the CCPC also needs to investigate price-gouging by petrol and diesel retailers. It was very clear, pretty much immediately after the war in Iran started, that forecourt prices would skyrocket and that has continued. We all suspect that there has been price-gouging and there has to be accountability for it because if there is not accountability, we will not stop them from doing it every time there is an issue like this. It is really important that that happens and that it happens quickly. We also need to ensure that any of the excise cuts and now the NORA cut are passed on to consumers. It needs to go directly into people's pockets and not into the pockets of the retailers. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that happens because it is fundamentally important when it comes to not just these measures but the trust the public have in the implementation of these measures.

Sentiment score: 0.10