The safe distribution and operation of fuels such as natural gas and LPG is of significant importance. Tens of thousands of households across the State rely on natural gas and LPG as their main source of heating and it is important that the networks which they use on a daily basis are up to standard and appropriately regulated for safety. I welcome the intention and progression of this technical update but, as my party colleagues have outlined, there are serious flaws in this legislation, and it does come ten years after the initial concerns were discovered. While the distribution of home heating fuels must be safe, it is also important that it is affordable. The Government has failed to protect households from rising costs through its withdrawal of the energy credits and its inability to hold energy companies to account for this rip-off. As a consequence, we have over 300,000 households in energy arrears as of last October - households who have been left to fend for themselves as costs continue to soar. This is a choice by the Government. It could stand up to these companies, empower the regulator and reform the pricing structures, but it has consistently refused to do so. It has done nothing. When it comes to the carbon tax, the Government has deliberately made the cost of home heating, petrol and diesel more expensive for households. We know the carbon tax is a regressive, deeply unfair tax and has a massive impact on people in rural communities and the west of Ireland, in particular, where in many areas the alternatives simply do not exist. However, the Government is going to continue hiking these taxes until 2030 at least. The reality is that the effects of recent carbon tax increases and the increases planned over the years to come will have the most severe impact on the most vulnerable households. This comes with the support of Regional Independent Group TDs who spent many years speaking out against carbon tax increases yet when a Government job came into sight, they became silent. When he was in opposition, the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney said that rural Ireland was not being treated fairly when it comes to the carbon tax. He said that rural Ireland does not have the benefit of public transport and the Government was adding insult to injury by increasing the cost of running a car. I wonder whether the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, held the same view when he voted to increase the same carbon tax in the latest budget or if a ministerial job changed his mind. Time after time the Government has defended carbon tax increases by saying that the funding is essential for the delivery of climate action programmes. We know from the public accounts committee that this is not true. The fact of the matter is that carbon tax funds are not ring-fenced for such measures but are treated the same as any other general taxation. The Government has little idea at all where the carbon tax people pay is actually spent. It is time for the Government to recognise the reality for households across the State and give them a break. Working people and families are in desperate need of support to pay their energy bills. They need the Minister to reverse his cruel decision to scrap energy credits. They need him to scrap the carbon tax increases and end the energy rip-off by standing up to the big energy companies.

Sentiment score: 0.08