I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. The time limit for the proposer and seconder is 16 minutes. All other Senators have six minutes. The debate will follow the normal pattern. The Minister of State will be called on to contribute from the Government's side when he indicates and will have 15 minutes.

I move:

“That Seanad Éireann:

welcomes the:

- measures from Government on energy affordability, including the:

- lowering and retention of the lower VAT rate on electricity and gas bills;

- Household Benefits Package for all households of persons 70 years of age or older;

- reduction in excise duties on petrol, diesel and marked diesel;

- increase in the rate and duration of the National Fuel Allowance Scheme;

- expansion of the National Fuel Allowance Scheme to 50,000 more households;

- progress of the Security of Supply Programme introduced by the Government and managed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU);

- additional connection of 38,000 new homes by ESB Networks in 2025, an increase of almost one-fifth on 2024;

- €18.9 billion investment by the Government in Ireland’s electricity grid and distribution system to 2030, which will support the provision of 80 per cent of electricity generation through renewable sources;

- €3.5 billion portion of this investment being allocated by EirGrid and ESB Networks under the Price Review 6 Strategy, which is the largest ever individual investment in our electricity system;

- significant expansion in energy generated from renewable sources, including the milestone of Ireland having in excess of 8GW of onshore renewable energy installed;

notes:

- the All-Island Resources Adequacy Assessment from EirGrid on the supply and demand situation for electricity;

- the CRU’s new Large Energy User Connection Policy;

- the establishment and work of the National Energy Affordability Taskforce;

- the posting of €636 million in profit by ESB Networks for 2025;

- the operation of the standing charge system with regard to electricity bills;

- the purpose of the standing charge to help maintain the electricity network and manage connections to the network;

- the increase in adverse weather events, such as Storm Éowyn, which leave more households without electricity for longer periods of time;

- the increase permitted by the CRU in standing charges last October;

- that the standing charge portion of an electricity supply bill for household can comprise up to €30 of a monthly bill’s cost;

calls on the CRU to:

- direct electricity supply companies to design and implement a process under which households and businesses would be credited with a refund of the standing charge amount during periods of electricity supply disruption; and

- ensure that the credit system applies during electricity supply disruption caused by adverse weather conditions and breakdowns in transmission of electricity that are not the fault of householders or businesses.”

I second the motion.

Are the Senators sharing time?

Yes.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, to the House this afternoon. It is unfortunate that none of the Opposition are in attendance today.

As a general rule, we do not refer to the fact that people are not in the Chamber. It is just a general rule.

It is worth pointing out.

I am pleased to bring forward the motion because it deals with something that affects every household, farm, business and community in Ireland. Electricity is no longer simply another utility. It is a service that allows people to heat their homes, refrigerate food, milk cows, operate businesses, work remotely, communicate with loved ones and, increasingly, charge vehicles and power heat pumps. When electricity fails today, life almost comes to a standstill.

Before I go any further, I acknowledge what the Government has done. The Government has reduced the VAT on electricity and gas, locked in until December 2030; expanded the fuel allowance scheme and increased the household benefits package to €35 a month. It has invested billions of euro in strengthening our electricity network, with an €18.9 billion investment programme to 2030, representing the largest commitment ever made to Ireland's electricity infrastructure.

It will allow hundreds of thousands of new homes to connect to the grid, facilitate electric vehicles, support renewable energy and strengthen security of supply. These are investments that are very welcome.

Likewise, I acknowledge the outstanding work carried out by ESB Networks crews. Anyone who watched Storm Éowyn unfold last year knows the conditions these engineers had to work in. People were climbing poles in hurricane force winds, working around the clock and spending weeks away from their families to reconnect homes across the country. This motion is not a criticism of their work. They deserve enormous credit, but acknowledging the dedication of ESB staff should not prevent us from asking whether the system is fair for customers. Storm Éowyn was unlike anything Ireland has experienced before. At its peak, approximately 768,000 homes, farms and businesses were without electricity. That represents almost one in every five electricity customers in the country. After two nights, around 330,000 customers were still without power and, almost a week afterwards, approximately 77,000 customers remained disconnected. After ten days, around 39,000 customers still had no electricity. Some families, farms and businesses remained without power for more than two weeks. The final reconnections were not completed until 11 February almost three weeks after the storm.

Those numbers are extraordinary and they tell another story. While almost 70% of customers had power restored within 72 hours, thousands of families across counties like Roscommon, Galway, Mayo, Leitrim and Donegal experienced something entirely different. For them, this was not an inconvenience; it was a daily struggle. Families were throwing food away, older people were trying to stay warm. Farmers were relying on generators. Businesses were losing income. People could not charge devices for kids or mobile phones. Some people could not even access water because the pumps were dependent on electricity. Many had no broadband or mobile coverage either. Yet, every one of those households continued to pay their standing charge. That is what this motion seeks to address.

Let me be absolutely clear. This motion is not asking for electricity units to be refunded. If people are using electricity, they should obviously pay for it. Nor is it asking to undermine the investment programme that our network urgently needs. This is about one specific element of the bill - the standing charge. The standing charge exists to maintain and operate our network. That is understandable, but if the network is unavailable for prolonged periods through absolutely no fault of the customer, surely common sense tells us that people should not continue paying their charge during these outages. For many households today, the standing charge can account for around €30 per month. People accept paying it because they accept that maintaining a resilient electricity network costs money, but what people struggle to understand is why they continue paying exactly the same amount when the service simply is not there. If your broadband disappears for two weeks, most providers will provide some form of credit. If transport services fail repeatedly, compensation mechanisms increasingly exist. Why should electricity be any different?

We already recognise this principle in other ways. There is the network repair guarantee. Customers who experience prolonged outages caused by faults, not storms, can receive compensation. Therein lies the problem. The compensation scheme excludes precisely the circumstances that are becoming more and more common. Storms, extreme weather events and large-scale outages are no longer once-in-a-generation events. In fact, science will tell us that we can expect to see them far more frequently. Storm Éowyn may unfortunately represent the future rather than the exception and if that is the case, then surely our customer protection measures need to evolve as well. People understand that storms happen. What they do not understand is why the financial burden always seems to rest with the customers.

We also have to consider the rural dimension. Those living in cities generally experience shorter outages because of network design and population density. In counties like Roscommon, Mayo, Galway, Leitrim and Donegal, restoration can take considerably longer. Our geography makes repairs more difficult. Forestry creates additional challenges. Long rural lines increase vulnerabilities.

Those communities should not be financially disadvantaged because of where they live and where this happens. They already face greater disruption. They should not have to carry the cost.

I have spoken previously in the House about forestry management near electricity lines. That work remains essential. Tree corridors must be maintained properly. Investment in resilience must continue. Additional billions being invested through price review six are essential. Nobody disputes that, but investment alone is not enough. Public confidence matters and people will support investment when they believe the system is fair. Fairness builds trust. Trust builds public support. This proposal strengthens, not weakens, that relationship.

Some may argue that suppliers determine standing charges rather than the Government and that is true. That is what the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, said to me when I raised this as a Commencement matter on the last Thursday before the Christmas holidays. Some may argue that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, regulates the market independently and that is true. That is precisely why the motion calls on the CRU to direct customers to establish a consistent mechanism for automatically crediting customers during verified supply interruptions. It is not complicated or bureaucratic. It is simple and fair. Technology already tells ESB Networks exactly where customers lose supply and when it will be restored. Surely the same information can be used to automatically calculate the standing charge credit. Customers should not have to complete forms or fight for compensation. It should happen automatically. This is the direction in which modern regulation should move.

The motion is ultimately about recognising the lived experience of people across rural Ireland, the people who were without power last year following Storm Éowyn for two, three, five, ten and up to 14 days. These are people did everything right, paid every bill, supported the investment being made in the network and waited patiently while crews worked tirelessly, but still found themselves sitting in cold homes wondering why they continued paying for a service they simply did not have. No one expects perfection in this situation or for storms to disappear. No one expects miracles from ESB crews battling impossible conditions.

As we continue investing billions in Ireland's electricity future, let us also invest in public confidence. Let us show customers that when the network fails through no fault of their own, the system stands with them rather than bills them as though nothing had happened. It is a modest proposal, but it is one I hope the Minister of State will listen to.

I second the motion with great pleasure. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to discuss it. Since the early days of the State, electricity generation and the ESB, along with infrastructure such as Ardnacrusha, has been one of the great success stories of the State. We are almost unique in western Europe in that we as a State retain ownership of 97% of our national grid and in excess of 95% of our main electricity supply company. The ESB has been a shining light in terms of State companies since its establishment.

The Government has done fantastic work in making electricity more available and more affordable to people throughout the country, with the national fuel allowance scheme reaching up to 50,000 more households and an additional 38,000 new homes being connected by the ESB by 2025, which was an increase of almost one fifth on 2024. A further €18.9 billion investment by the Government in Ireland's electricity grid and distribution system between now and 2030 will support the provision of 80% of electricity generation through renewable sources.

We have to look at the last hundred years in order to think about where we are going to go in the future in terms of the national plan for delivering the power we need in our homes.

We have to look at the great engineering works done over the past century, like Ardnacrusha, which fundamentally changed our great waterway, and like what was done in Ballyshannon on the River Erne. Ulster's leading salmon fishery was altered, along with the upper and lower Lough Erne, to drain into the sea through Ballyshannon. Those fisheries were changed forever.

We must look at what we are doing now in terms of solar generation. Our greatest resource is our fertile land. In a country with an amazing climate for growing food, we are covering hundreds upon hundreds of acres with solar panels to produce green energy. We must have a conversation about where we are going with this in the long term.

As a nation, we have to be brave enough to bite the bullet and have an adult conversation about the feasibility of modular nuclear generators in substations around the country.

We have a proud history in western Europe of electricity generation and creation of networks and infrastructure. ESB workers went all over continental Europe, eastern Europe and Africa in the 1960s and 1970s as subcontractors, building grids for other countries. It is one of our great national banks of knowledge. We have to look forward with an open mind, to learn from the past and to have serious, adult conversations about the future of energy generation in this country.

I commend my colleagues on bringing this motion forward. It is important we debate it. It is clear the proposer, Senator Scahill, has put a lot of thought into it. I commend him on that.

I come from a place in north-west Kildare that has suffered seriously on many occasions from a lack of electricity. I would say, on average, it has been nearly two or three times per week in the past year. I know the impact that has on families, farmers, those who are working, those with young families and older people. It has to be acknowledged and there has to be some way that can be managed through the existing system. It is a rural but quite large area outside Rathangan and into Lullymore, Allenwood, Kilmeage, Robertstown, Carbury, Derrinturn and all of that area. I have had a number of Commencement matters on it.

The motion is broadly in line with Government policy and Fianna Fáil policy, especially in seeking to increase the affordability of electricity for customers and to take into account the effect on customers of electricity supply disruption due to adverse weather conditions. Sometimes it happens without adverse weather conditions, particularly where there are many trees and there is ash dieback. It is becoming a huge problem.

There is widespread public concern around the country about the affordability of energy and electricity. The motion acknowledges Government action to address energy affordability but, crucially, calls for a system to be put in place whereby electricity consumers do not have to pay the standing charge element of their bill while their supply is interrupted due to adverse weather conditions. The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Deputy O'Brien, is of the opinion it is more important to minimise the extent to which customer supply is interrupted by adverse weather conditions, and he is absolutely right. We have to minimise that.

At the same time, I think it is important that there would be some acknowledgment, absolutely, that this is happening and that people feel compensated in principle, as well as just the financial element of it.

I commend the Minister on advancing the forestry corridors Bill to give the companies enhanced powers to clear trees around key electricity lines to reduce their vulnerability in storms. That is hugely important and we hope that this Bill will certainly will go through both Houses in an efficient manner. I also want to mention the price review 6, PR6, investment programme in grid infrastructure. That will lead to an unprecedented investment of €18.9 billion in the electricity grid. That is really important. To make this investment at the least cost to consumers the Government decided on an investment of €3.5 billion in their equity at the last budget. These actions certainly will minimise the extent of supply interruptions, which is more important for households and businesses than a relatively trivial reduction in one element of their electricity bill.

The electrification of the country was certainly one of the great enablers of this State and not just in terms of standards of living. Obviously, when people had the opportunity to get electricity into their homes, their standard of living improved at an incredible level, along with standards of education with the electrification of our schools. For ensuring job opportunities and industrialisation, this was absolutely the greatest thing that ever happened to this country. It is concerning that time after time we are now seeing interruptions in the system. It is important that this is acknowledged. Public confidence in our energy supply is important and building that trust between the supplier and the consumer is important. When that trust starts to go - and I have seen that around north-west Kildare - it is a problem that we have to address. Supporting this Bill is one way we can say "Look, hands up we are absolutely acknowledging that this is an issue". This is a principled response to helping to address that. Obviously, we want to get to a stage where we do not have any situation where we are going to have interruptions in energy. I support this motion on behalf of the Fianna Fáil party.

Nobody disputes that when families or businesses lose power through no fault of their own they deserve fair treatment. If people are left without electricity for hours or even days, particularly following severe weather events, they should not be expected to pay standing charges for a service that they cannot use. While there is merit in ensuring consumers are compensated during outages, we must also be honest with people. Refunding a standing charge for a period without power is a very small measure in the context of the enormous energy costs households are facing every single month. For many families the standing charge is not the biggest problem. The real problem is that Ireland has some of the highest electricity prices in Europe. Families are struggling to pay bills month after month, businesses are struggling with soaring operating costs, and people are cutting back on essentials simply just to keep the lights on.

The Government wants to present this motion as an answer to energy affordability; it is not. At best it deals with a symptom. It does nothing to address the underlying cause of why electricity has become so unaffordable in the first place. Ordinary workers and families are being fleeced while energy companies are continuing to make enormous profits. Time and again this Government has claimed that these prices are simply unavoidable, as though nothing can be done. That simply is not true. These are political choices. The Government has repeatedly refused to support Sinn Féin legislation that would finally give the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, the powers that it needs to hold energy companies to account. Our proposals would require proper oversight of energy companies, priced-in practices and hedging strategies. They would give the regulator stronger powers to investigate and sanction anti-competitive behaviour. They would require far greater transparency around how prices are set.

Crucially, they would place affordability at the heart of energy regulation rather than treating it as an afterthought. We have also brought forward legislation to regulate standing charges. At present, suppliers can impose these fixed charges with remarkably little scrutiny. Before a family even switches on a light or boils a kettle, they are already paying substantial fixed costs. That cannot go unchecked.

We also need to ask a fundamental question about fairness. Why are ordinary households paying higher network charges than some of the largest energy users in the State? Families are effectively subsidising a system where major data centres benefit from significantly lower network costs despite placing enormous demands on our electricity infrastructure. Households should not be paying six, seven and sometimes eight times more in network charges while multinational corporations receive preferential treatment. That is simply not fair.

The Government rightly points to investment in our electricity grid and renewable energy. Investment is necessary. Nobody disputes that but investment alone means little if ordinary people cannot afford to pay their bills. The long-term answer is to reduce our dependency on imported fossil fuels through faster delivery of renewable energy and greater public investment in our energy capacity. Ireland has enormous renewable potential but progress has been painfully slow. Delays every year mean that families are once again exposed to international conflicts and volatile global energy markets. The human consequences are impossible to ignore. Hundreds of thousands of households are now in energy debt. More families are falling into long-term arrears and the number of disconnections is increasing. Behind every one of those figures is a household forced to choose between heating, food and other basic necessities. That is the real energy crisis Ireland is facing today.

Yes, let us ensure that consumers receive refunds where they lose electricity supply through no fault of their own. I completely agree that the situation is totally unfair. However, let us not pretend that refunding a few euro in standing charges addresses a crisis where households are paying hundreds of euro more each year than families elsewhere in Europe. People deserve more than token gestures. They deserve an energy system that is fair, transparent and affordable. They deserve a regulator that has the power to tackle profiteering and price gouging. They deserve proper regulation of standing charges.

We support the motion, even though I have said it is a small thing. I will take the positivity sandwich approach. I started positive and then I gave the criticism. However, it is only a small thing. There is a huge issue when it comes to energy in this country. All you have to do is knock on a few doors and see people's bills. People are struggling. I would welcome this small move but I would love to see the Government bring in something big. Perhaps it could give those powers to the CRU so that it could do a deep dive and look into what these energy companies are making and how much the data centres are paying compared to households.

I acknowledge the good work my colleague, Senator Gareth Scahill, has done on this Private Members' motion on behalf of the Fine Gael Party, primarily because of what happened in his own constituency last year, the issues caused by Storm Éowyn and what seems to be an unfair charge when people are left without electricity for almost a month. This is about fairness and making sure that people receive what they pay for. When people in Roscommon and in other counties are left without electricity for a period, they should not be paying for something they cannot use.

When Senator Scahill put this motion forward, I said to myself that there was no way anyone could be against this. How could anybody be against it? The comments from the Opposition side suggest Senator Collins is not against it but is reluctantly for it. I suppose that is the way to put it. I say that in jest but I noted the comment that the Government should do something big. This is one area in which we think people need to be supported. If the Senator wants to see something big, she should look to the package of €750 million we produced two months ago to support people.

I welcome the announcement from the Cabinet today on the continuation of that excise duty cut on petrol and diesel and for it to be phased out over a period of time rather than a cliff edge. If Members want to see big measures, that is what they would have seen when this Government introduced a support for electricity bills for a period of time. Again, that was voted against and not accepted because supposedly it was not enough but now people want it to be retained. The point is that we, as a Government, are always here to support the people of Ireland. These are difficult times at the moment, obviously. The cost of living is very challenging for people across the country. We also know, as a Government, that times could be worse in a number of months' time and we need to prepare for that.

However, there are things we can do, as Senator Scahill has pointed out, in terms of the standing charge that can be changed. I heard it said that it is only a small amount of money but in both Chambers we hear every week that €30 is a large amount of money and can be the difference between people buying food or people paying electricity costs. If someone has to pay an extra €30 for a standing charge they did not get to use, that is extra money they have and is important.

I commend Senator Scahill's work on this. In this House, the Fine Gael Party will always try to come up with proposals for the Minister of State and the Government that we think can be implemented, supported by Government and can support people in constituencies across the country.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I compliment my colleagues, Senators Gareth Scahill and P.J. Murphy, for putting forward this very important Private Members' motion. While I agree that it is not a silver bullet in terms of addressing all costs for energy, I do think it is a matter of justice. I travel through the west of Ireland. I am from County Mayo, not far from Galway and Roscommon. I travelled through that area to get to this House during my Seanad campaign and drove through many countries, including those I have mentioned and Monaghan and Cavan. I will never forget the devastation I saw. I do not think it was fully understood at more senior levels, I would say politically, but within certain utility companies as well. The response was not satisfactory and we have reflected that quite clearly.

What I mean by "matter of justice" is that for families who felt isolated, disconnected, alone and vulnerable in conditions that were substandard, to think that a utility provider not providing any utility at that time was actually applying a standing charge is something that is more about injustice than a financial contribution. The financial benefit for people if we can get this fully over the line will be a help and an acknowledgement, but it is about the justice in making sure that people are not out of pocket while also without electricity.

I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate, Energy and the Environment. We are doing a lot in the space of trying to capitalise on different opportunities that can drive down the cost of electricity. The cost is only one element. If we have warmer homes that are retrofitted and grant-aided then the requirement for electricity will also reduce. That is something that Ireland has been very strong on in terms of the grants and supports that are there for the retrofitting of one's home. We need to take that in a full context when we think about electricity cost. There are other elements that can help improve taking the cost of electricity bills from those most affected and those most vulnerable. We know the benefit of solar and photovoltaic cells for homeowners. I refer to the battery storage and the potential that has to really be a next step forward.

In terms of homeowners reducing their bills, buying energy at night and releasing it by day is common sense. On foot of the price of batteries having reduced by 50% in recent years, there is a real opportunity that the next step to becoming a cleaner and greener country, while also reducing bills, will be the investment in battery storage at a residential level. This is something that I have articulated regularly at the committee. I also have raised it here a number of times and I hope that we can continue to pursue this initiative because, as I said, it can be transformative in terms how we interact.

My area has some of the largest wind farms in the country. At times, because of high wind levels, there is “dispatch down”, where the turbines are shut down. If we have a system in place and we deploy excess energy from the grid to battery storage at a residential level, we can give people free electricity for their batteries or to fill their tanks with hot water. I know EnergyCloud has done some work in this space. God forbid, if power is shut off during a storm, people's water tanks will be filled with hot water and their batteries will be powered up, which can help to mitigate some of the time lag between the power going and being restored.

To come back to the motion put forward by Senators Scahill and Murphy, there is currently an injustice. While not being a full financial solution to the cost of electricity bills, it is something that would help in a small way to benefit people financially and address what is currently an injustice when people without electricity are being charged. I compliment my colleagues and everyone in the House who spoke in support of it. I would like to see it introduced swiftly in order that the next time there are power outages, people do not receive the standing charge.

I welcome the motion from the Government Senators and the recognition that energy affordability in Ireland is a complete disaster.

No one is saying that.

I am saying that. In effect, the Government Senators recognise there is so much more that can be done. It is hard not to be cynical when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael put forward a motion in the Seanad on what the State should be doing, as though they were not the ones holding the reins of power in this State. The motion suggests that the CRU, a body that is responsible to a Fianna Fáil Minister, should try telling electricity companies to treat consumers slightly better, and otherwise give the Government a pat on the back for supposedly doing a bang-up job in keeping electricity prices down. This is in spite of Ireland having the highest electricity prices in Europe and Dublin being the most expensive city in the EU for household electricity.

Some 300,000 households are struggling to pay their bills, which seem to be increasing every single month, but all we get from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are self-praise and temporary half-measures. The reality is that our electricity system is working just as intended. The energy companies are making record profits, and corporate interests, particularly data centres, get priority access to our grid. Skyrocketing bills for families and small businesses are a side effect of a system that prioritises profit over the public good.

More and more data centres are being built across the country, sucking up vast amounts of electricity and sending demand through the roof. The Government has been fighting tooth and nail against any criticism of these data centres or the right of tech companies to build them here in Ireland.

Heaven and earth has been moved by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to keep big tech happy but not a thought has been given to the effect these data centres have on ordinary people. They have been rolling out the red carpet for data centres, which are leading directly to higher energy costs for households, while only offering scraps to those who are paying the price.

If the Government is serious about protecting consumers from disruptions and price shocks in our electricity supply, it should be setting price caps preventing energy companies from charging households extortionate rates when there is market volatility. The companies have been making record profits year after year. They can afford to feel the pinch, unlike the rest of us. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent energy costs through the roof back in 2022, their profits have only increased. It is standard practice by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that ordinary people are the first to bear the brunt of any crisis and corporations are the last. For decades, they declined to properly invest in renewable energy and building a resilient, self-sufficient system. Now, they expect the public to foot the bill for their failures.

Ordinary people did not create this energy crisis and they should not be forced to pay for the Government's failure to build a functional supply system. We need immediate action by this Government to bring household electricity prices down, including a reintroduction of energy tax credits and an extension of VAT cuts. More importantly, we need a complete change in course of direction when it comes to our energy system. The best pathway for Ireland's future is to achieve energy independence through renewable energy, particularly with wind energy, delivered for the public good and not for corporate profit.

I thank the Senators for raising these important matters. I welcome this opportunity to discuss how to protect households and businesses that suffer a loss of electricity supply due to storms or other adverse weather events.

This motion calls for electricity suppliers to credit households and businesses with a refund of part of the standing charge amount of their electricity bills during the periods of electricity disruption. The context for this is the widespread concern about the cost of electricity to households and businesses. Before considering the specific proposal in the motion, I will recall the comprehensive set of actions already taken to address affordability in energy, including electricity.

Before I do that, I am going to take a moment to address the ludicrous concept that data centres do not have a real economic benefit and impact on our country. Big tech - in case some people like to forget this - is actually a major employer. There are thousands of families the length and breadth of this country listening to this attack on their jobs-----

Direct employment.

-----on a daily basis who cannot understand why people are so opposed to Ireland having a successful tech sector. Part of that is having data centres.

We are not opposed to-----

I am sorry, I did not interrupt the Senator so please, a little courtesy.

As early as budget 2026, the Government has been putting in place measures to help households faced with increasing energy costs. The measures in the budget included an extension of the 9% VAT rate currently applied to gas and electricity saving households up to €100 per year. It is part of the Government recognising that we want to put permanent solutions in place, not gimmicks. The Opposition loves a bit of gimmickry but we want permanent solutions. There were also enhanced social protection payments, including an increase to the fuel allowance rate to €38 per week and an expansion in the eligibility rules, and a record allocation of €640 million for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, retrofit schemes, allowing us to target 73,000 home energy upgrades this year. Being able to access this is really impacting households on a daily basis. It includes €340 million for the warmer homes scheme, which provides fully funded upgrades for those in energy poverty.

I also wish to note the range of protections in place for customers experiencing difficulties in paying their bills. Anyone who is struggling with their bill is strongly encouraged to engage with their supplier. Suppliers will not disconnect customers that engage with them. The Minister has engaged with the four biggest energy retailers in recent months to ensure that hardship funds and focused measures are in place for any customers in difficulty. In addition, the Department of Social Protection can provide support through the additional needs payment to help households meet expenses, including those who face difficulties with fuel bills.

I fully share the concerns of Senators about the problem of electricity supplies to households and businesses being interrupted by storms and other adverse weather events.

In January 2025, our electricity network suffered unprecedented levels of damage from Storm Éowyn. The electricity supply for thousands of homes and businesses was interrupted for periods ranging from hours to a week or more. This had significant negative impacts for these electricity users ranging from disruption and discomfort to hardship and significant risks to the most vulnerable customers, but thanks to the outstanding efforts of the grid companies, ESB Networks and EirGrid and a range of other public bodies, the supplies were restored quickly, and the effects of the interruptions were mitigated.

The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment met regularly with the responders and took steps to ensure that lessons for the response to future storms would be identified and put into effect.

The network companies enhanced their winter preparedness plans for 2026 and beyond, developing contingency plans and stockpiling key supplies to respond to storms. A key risk from storms is that trees will fall and damage electricity lines. ESB Networks already takes preventative action by clearing corridors around lines when they pass through forests. The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, is bringing forward legislation to enhance their powers to clear these corridors through forests.

The Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill is being progressed by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment as part of a wider programme of work to strengthen the resilience of Ireland’s electricity network in the context of climate change and increasingly severe storm events. The overarching objective is to ensure that overhead electricity networks and forestry can coexist in a manner that delivers a secure, reliable and climate-resilient electricity supply for homes, businesses and communities across our country.

The price review 6 grid investment programme was approved by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities in December 2025. It approves an investment of up to €18.9 billion in our electricity grid over the coming five years. This represents the largest ever investment in our grid and includes significantly increased spending on asset management, underground cables and the replacement of ageing overhead lines and poles. This investment is critical in order that we can maintain a fit-for-purpose grid and have the strength to reduce the potential for outages.

Price review 6 approves nearly €990 million of investment to improve storm resilience, building on the winter 2025 grid resilience plan to implement lessons learned from Storm Éowyn. This will enable ESB Networks to improve the robustness of its network planning, customer service, vulnerable customer protection, organisational resilience and storm damage repair works. The Government is supporting the price review 6 investment programme by providing an unprecedented €3.5 billion equity investment in EirGrid and ESB. This will allow EirGrid and ESB to finance their €18.9 billion investment at the lowest possible cost.

I and my colleagues in government believe that this approach of minimising the extent of power outages as a result of storms by preparing better bases and investing in the resilience of the system is the best way to limit the negative effects on households and businesses.

The motion calls on electricity suppliers to mitigate the effect on households and businesses of supply interruptions by crediting affected customers for their standing charges during the period of supply interruption. The benefit for the affected customers would be relatively small. Standing charges for households are of the order of €250 per annum. In addition, the proposed change would require a completely new form of regulation in the electricity market.

The electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland operate within a European Union regulatory regime wherein electricity and gas markets are commercial and liberalised. Price setting by electricity suppliers, including standing charges, is a commercial and operational matter for the companies concerned. Each company has its own different approach to pricing decisions over time, in accordance with factors such as their overall company strategic direction and developments in their cost base.

The cost of investing in, maintaining and operating the grid is recovered through network charges levied by ESB Networks and EirGrid on electricity suppliers. These network charges are regulated by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities to ensure that they are as low as possible and represent value for money. Electricity suppliers recover the wholesale cost of electricity, network charges and other system and supply costs through their bills to electricity consumers. These bills often consist of a variable per unit element and a fixed standing charge. However, there is no requirement that the bills are structured in this way, or that any standing charge should have a fixed relationship to the network charges paid by an electricity supplier.

The system proposed by the motion would require extensive legal and regulatory change, including primary legislation. There are also significant practical and structural challenges that require consideration.

I wish to conclude by reiterating that this Government is aware that people are concerned about both energy security and energy costs at this unprecedented time. An important element of security is the continuity of supply of electricity in storms or other adverse weather events. This motion draws attention to this crucial issue. Having listened to the Senators today, they have made a really excellent case. I thank them and congratulate them for highlighting this important area. While I recognise the Department has a very strong position on this, what the Senators have outlined is important. Even if it is a relatively small thing, the significance of what it says to consumers is a very important message that needs to be sent out there to electricity customers. The Government fully agrees with this concern. It proposes that the current measures in place to prepare for future weather events; invest in the resilience of the grid to future weather events; and minimise the cost of electricity for consumers represent an excellent approach which the Government is taking.

I thank the Minister of State for joining us for this debate and for his remarks. I now call on Senator Scahill to reply to the debate.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. He has given us something to think about. He has given us direction as to how we might be able to proceed from here. I welcome that. I acknowledge all of the Senators who made a contribution today. Senators P.J. Murphy called for an adult conversation on the future of our energy generation in the country and welcomed the €18.9 billion investment in the infrastructure. I recognise and can relate to Senator O'Loughlin's stories about being in north-west Kildare and the regular outages. While I spoke in my statement about Storm Éowyn and how my own household was without power for 13 nights, I can still relate to the fact that we regularly have outages. As public representatives, we are constantly engaging with people in our communities on reporting outages, trying to address them as quickly as possible and making it as easy as possible for the ESB to address them by encouraging people to report them.

I welcome all of Senator Collins' remarks. I recognise her support for the motion. As my colleague says, it is potentially reluctant support but positive support all the same. If Senator Andrews was here for the full debate he would have got a better understanding rather than coming in with a prepared script from whoever gave it to him. Sinn Féin welcomed the household benefits package, a package that is equal to about €35. I was talking about 768,000 homes that were without power after Storm Éowyn, and another 39,000 that were still without power after ten days. The standing charge in rural areas, though not urban areas, would have had a significant impact, almost equalling what they were getting with the household benefit package. This is about fairness, as I have said from the start. That is something we are trying to encourage.

We recognise the €18.9 billion. I also recognise the €3.5 billion portion of this investment being allocated to EirGrid and ESB Networks under price review 6, which is the largest ever individual investment in our electricity system. However, we all know that an awful lot of that investment has to go to capacity building in terms of housing and into the infrastructure, and some will be going to industry and business. I am talking about the 60-year-old, 65-year-old and 70-year-old ladies living on their own in rural areas whom I and, I am sure, many of my colleagues have visited, especially during these power outages, and how they were having to spend additional money. Even though they were not being charged for electricity during these outages, they were still having to spend additional money in order to bring in food, additional heating sources and additional ways of cooking. This would be a small little token along the way to try to make that system fair for them.

I also acknowledge fully the large energy user connection policy. Representatives of IBEC and Enterprise Ireland were before the artificial intelligence committee this morning to discuss the environment. That would have been the place for Senator Andrews to make any point he had to make, where it could have had an impact on a committee report. There were very interesting contributions by the witnesses from both organisations. They were some of the more positive contributions we have heard in relation to the environment. IBEC has been able to identify that certain investments by businesses in Ireland have gone to other countries because we were not in a position to give them the grid capacity and planning assurances they need at an early stage. The investments the Government had made and the commitments it has given between now and 2030 will ensure longevity, success and that such investment stays in Ireland and will protect Irish jobs and businesses as we move forward.

The whole purpose of this motion is about fairness and ensuring the investment going into the delivery of infrastructure around the country does not leave people in more rural areas behind. It is about ensuring that the energy companies see an impact on their bottom line by making sure the integrity of the system in rural Ireland is there to support them. As the Minister of State said, the measures currently in place are investing in the resilience of the grid in preparation for future weather events and seeking to minimise the cost of electricity for customers. We all agree on that end goal and we hope we can get there soon.

I welcome to the Gallery former Minister Tony Killeen and his guests. I also welcome the guests of Deputy Lahart.