I think I would be safe in saying that all of us in this House are supportive of strengthening safety regulations. Sinn Féin certainly supports updating the legislation. However, what we have here is a Bill that is emblematic of this Government. We see rushed legislation, despite the Government passing legislation at a slower rate than any other for a century. In the case of this Bill, serious concerns remain. Representative organisations have expressed concerns as to whether the legislation is fit for purpose. We have heard that, if introduced as it stands, it could pose serious safety risks and that there are too many legal ends and loopholes for non-domestic installers. We need to ensure that smaller operators are supported to avoid cliff edges. We debate these serious issues today against a backdrop where, according to the CRU, this system has to come into effect on 1 January. Yet, this Bill was only published last Friday. It seems this Government lacks the ability to translate announcements, press releases, action plans and a whole thesaurus of other media opportunities into actual, operational policy. At budget time, we saw the Government justify the withdrawal of energy credits for struggling families and workers with a reference to inflation being expected to run to 2% for the year. In the end, it amounted to 2.7% and 4% in the case of food. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General utterly rubbished claims by the Government that we are using the carbon tax to support farmers for climate action. Of the €1.5 billion farmers were promised up to 2030, more than halfway through the decade the Government has delivered not even 10% of that. Speaking of carbon tax, through a baseless increase on 1 January, the Government put upwards of 6 cent per litre on the cost of motoring; a supposed behavioural tax that cannot drive people to make use of services that do not exist. Other methods of transport lack the needed infrastructure in some communities, such as those I represent in counties Cavan and Monaghan. It is grossly apparent that the Government is struggling to translate ideas or sound bites into reality. Safety is not an area where we can afford to play fast and loose with rushing legislation. I appeal to the Minister of State to take on board the concerns raised by representative organisations. I also appeal to him to ensure that the CRU is adequately resourced because if it lacks the capacity to ensure new regulations, then what should be important regulatory changes to improve safety will effectively amount to naught. Only a year into this Government, there have already been too many areas where that has not been the case.

Sentiment score: 0.21