Electricity Supply: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-30
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Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel

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.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-30