Sinn Féin spokesperson for Energy, Pa Daly TD, has called on the government to do more to protect households from Ireland’s rip off energy costs.
Commenting on recent energy price hikes and the government’s decision that there would be no energy support package in this year’s budget, Teachta Daly said:
“Ireland has the second highest energy prices in Europe. Annual energy bills remain 90% higher for gas and more than 60% higher for electricity when compared to pre-2020.
“Ordinary workers and families are already crippled by these costs yet, with wholesale prices on the rise, it looks like prices could be on the rise yet again.
“Despite the inevitable hardship this will cause, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Rural Independents are content to sit on their hands and let ordinary people suffer while energy companies make off into the sunset with soaring profits.
“This is not right.
“Last week, I called on the government and the regulator to intervene to protect households from energy price hikes. I am repeating these calls again today.
“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised to reduce energy prices during the election. Not only have they failed to reduce prices, they have now cut supports.
“Sinn Féin has made clear where we stand on this. Supports should not be withdrawn until prices are brought down.
“And as Sinn Féin has pointed out, energy prices cannot be brought down until we address the fundamental flaws in Ireland’s energy markets.
“As people are being asked to move more to electricity, we need to have confidence that they are not being ripped off.
“Sinn Féin is committed to a reform of the electricity system to make it more affordable and equitable. While the indigenous generation of renewable energy will be a prerequisite of reducing the cost of electricity here, this will not, in isolation, fix a system that is ultimately broken.
“As long as energy is treated as a commodity for private gain rather than as a basic necessity and public good, the price will remain unreasonably high here.
“Sinn Féin would deliver the wholesale change necessary to make energy affordable in a system that prioritises fairness over the corporate balance sheet.
“Our plan includes measures to reform the various market defects that drive up the cost of energy here – from the regressive way taxes and levies are currently distributed to the excessive commercialisation of energy.
“Energy companies should not be making eye-water profits off the back of sky-rocketing energy prices. Therefore, we are calling on government to examine reintroduction of the cap on market revenues that can then be deployed to reduce energy prices at source.
“Sinn Féin would reorient Ireland’s energy system towards fairness, transparency, and affordability, ensuring energy companies are held to account and that ordinary workers and families feel the benefit of the renewables transition in their pockets.”
