Carlinn Hall communal heating costs
Deputy Ó Murchú congratulated Irish boxers and then raised residents of Carlinn Hall facing unaffordable communal heating bills after gas price rises. The Minister said he has discussed the issue before, but does not believe it fits TBESS or an individual cap, though the scheme details are still being finalised.
I congratulate Amy Broadhurst and all the women boxers fighting in Montenegro at the European championships. We have a record haul of bronze medals and I congratulate them on that. We wish them the best of luck as-----
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-----they try to turn them into silver and gold.
The Minister will know what I am going to ask him about. It relates to Carlinn Hall and communal heating systems. Long-term, we need solutions, whether they will involve geothermal instead of gas or woodchip. In the short term, however, we need to help these residents, whether through a business support scheme given to the likes of a front line and then passed on to the residents, or some sort of cap or credit. We need a bespoke solution to get people through a bad winter.
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I have talked to the Deputy about this on a number of occasions. He is correct; there is a small number of significant difficulties the residents have experienced having made what was, in my mind, a very good investment in a communal heating system but having been caught out because of the high price of gas. I do not believe, as I said to him the other day, that this would qualify for the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, although we will have to see when the specific provisions of that scheme are put in place, nor do I believe there could be a cap specifically for such circumstances. There are alternative solutions they can switch to, whether wood pellet or other systems, for managing it.
One point, which may be of limited comfort, is that there has been a significant reduction in the international price of gas on the spot market in recent weeks. While we cannot be certain as to how long that will last and it is likely to do with wider international factors, it may give some relief from what were exceptionally high prices that those householders, in particular, faced. I know it is not sufficient, but it may be of some relief to them in the interim.