Electricity prices and energy independence
Deputy McGrath attacked planned ESB price rises and accused the Government of abandoning people, while the Minister argued Ireland must rely more on its own renewable resources. After interruptions, he said wind, biomass and solar offer the cheapest long-term power and that the State must not be held to ransom.
I am sure, having been elected to this House, that the Minister's commitment is to serving the people. He has been talking about what is in the programme for Government. What about the promise he made to look after the people? It was announced yesterday that ESB prices are going to go up by between 23% and 25%. The Minister is blaming the war. Please be honest with the people. These prices were spinning out of control anyway. We introduced a motion to address that last October before there was any mention of a war. I call on the Minister to be honest with the people. There was a 24-month delay on the warmer homes scheme before the pandemic. That delay has now extended to three years, if the scheme will happen at all. The Minister is playing a mind game with people who are freezing and getting sick. They cannot afford the ESB charges or the cost of fuel. The Government is also going to persist with a carbon tax on top of that. I call on the Minister to get real and honour his commitment to serve the people. We are Teachtaí Dála. We must look after the people. We do not have to look after global interests or the interests of anyone else. We do not need the Minister to be reading out triple lock agreements that are stitched into the programme for Government. Look after na daoine, the people. They are crying out for help.
Comment on this
The way to serve the Irish people and Irish interests on this occasion is through a radical transformation whereby we use our own energy. We need to turn what we have in abundance-----
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The Government has sold the bogs.
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May I be allowed to finish my point? We have an abundance of renewable power. Our sea area is seven times that of our land area. We are probably the windiest country in the world.
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With the land mass we have, we can, in our farming communities, through biomass and solar energy, turn to our own power.
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We will never be held to ransom. That power supply is the cheapest power supply available to us today. The best way we can serve the Irish people at this time is to turn to our national resources. The founding ambition of this State in the Proclamation was to rely on ourselves, to be strong in using and managing our own natural resources. That is what we are doing.
Comment on this
The Government has abandoned the people.