Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-30
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

Before answering, I would like to welcome the young people in the Gallery from the Youth Advocate Programme, Foróige and Springboard Family Support Project, all of whom appeared in front of the Joint Committee on Children and Equality. Deputy Keogh, the Chair of the committee, asked me to say that. They were before the committee in respect of the topic of online safety, which, I assure them, is something we always discuss here across the political divide. Listening to young people's voices is an important of that. Go raibh míle maith agaibh for your contribution.
In the context of this crisis, we cannot afford say we are the Government and this is our idea, you are the Opposition and they are your ideas and because they say it, it is a bad idea and because we say it, it is a good idea. Some of the ideas the Deputy's party has put forward around solar panels merit serious consideration. It has been a constructive contribution to the debate; I say that sincerely. We believe we are doing a lot more to try to help people make the transition. The figures show some progress, and there has been a 186% increase in people accessing grants. However, solar is an area we can go further on. If the proposals of the Social Democrats are constructive in relation to that, they will get proper consideration by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Government as a whole. I know that, and I know that the Minister has engaged constructively in respect of this matter.
On energy credits, I have to keep making the point - because I really believe it - that an energy crisis in the winter is very different to an energy crisis in the summer. We are not ruling out further interventions that may be required. At this stage, however, we are not quite sure where the energy situation or the war will be. We continue to keep the matter under review.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-30