Energy Policy: Motion [Private Members] Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17 ============================================================ Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal I thank Deputy Heneghan and the many other Deputies across the House for their contribution to this debate and for the welcome opportunity, through the motion put forward by Deputy Boyd Barrett, to discuss the pressures households are facing as a result of very high energy costs. The Government is deeply aware of and concerned about the pressures placed on households and businesses by high energy costs. Providing supports to alleviate this pressure has been and will continue to be a priority. The Government is taking action to help households and businesses with the cost of fuel and energy and has been proactive in introducing support measures on fuel costs and supports for the transport, farming and fisheries sectors. This is in addition to the range of measures in budget 2026 aiming to help households with energy costs, which included extending the reduced VAT rate on gas and electricity, enhanced social protection payments and record funding for Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland retrofit schemes. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, earlier outlined the significant funding made available for retrofit schemes and the increased number of applications. The benefit of even simple upgrades like adding insulation, cavity wall or external wall insulation, cannot be dismissed. It can improve the warmth and comfort of the home while reducing energy costs. The Minister has engaged with energy suppliers and the energy regulator to ensure that consumers, particularly vulnerable customers, are protected. The CRU has a wide range of protections in place for customers experiencing difficulties in paying their bills. Each year, it carries out a review on the effectiveness of customer protection measures over the past winter as well as deciding the measures to be retained for the forthcoming winter. Some of the key measures that remained in place over recent years included a disconnection moratorium, reduced debt repayments and discounted tariffs for customers on financial hardship meters. The CRU will publish measures in the coming weeks, ahead of this winter. Anyone who is struggling with their bill is strongly encouraged to engage with their supplier. Suppliers will not disconnect customers who engage. It is also important to note that switching supplier or plan could save the average electricity customer hundreds of euro on an annual electricity bill. I strongly encourage consumers to seek out the best prices available. With regard to high energy prices, there are relevant structural factors. Ireland is import dependent for energy, making it particularly vulnerable to price volatility in the wholesale gas market. Ireland's isolated island location, low levels of interconnection, widely dispersed low-density population and reliance on fossil fuels are also important price determinants. Energy is central to every social and economic activity in Ireland, but we remain too dependent on imported fossil fuels. The energy crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East highlights why we must reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels and develop our own energy through our security and strength. As an island nation with limited fossil fuel reserves, this means developing our own abundant renewable energy resources and deepening our interconnection with trusted European peers. The national energy affordability task force has been established by the Government to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability. The first report of the task force, published last November, set out measures for consideration in the budget 2026 process. The task force is working intensively on an energy affordability action plan, which will be submitted to the Government in the coming weeks. Data centres are a critical component of Ireland's economic and digital present and future and a key part of our value proposition for foreign direct investment. Data centres strengthen Ireland's position as a strategic knowledge-intensive regional hub for the ICT sector and support broader retention and expansion of existing investment that supports billions in annual economic value for Ireland via high-wage employment, tax receipts and supplier ecosystems. Ireland's industrial electricity demand is primarily concentrated in our digital economy. This is our core energy-intensive industry and should be regarded as such. It is evident that future economic opportunities will be underpinned by energy-intensive digitalisation. The Government believes that these opportunities should be capitalised on in a planned and sustainable manner in line with Ireland's decarbonisation, energy security and affordability objectives. The Government's large energy user action plan, LEAP, published in January of this year, supports this. It sets out a plan-led approach for very large and energy-intensive investments, which, due to scale and energy consumption, will benefit from co-ordinated national infrastructure planning. LEAP represents a key strategic industrial policy in support of the Government's objective to accelerate renewable deployment, expedite grid investment and streamline planning for the next wave of industrial development. Alongside LEAP, the CRU large energy user connection policy establishes a pathway for new data centres to seek connection to the electricity system that addresses security-of-supply risks and system constraints and promotes renewable energy targets. Electricity network tariffs are set every year by the CRU to recover the cost of developing, operating and maintaining the electricity grid. They fund a grid that is more resilient to storms and supplies electricity to a growing population, new housing and expanding businesses. Extra-large energy users like data centres have in recent years seen large increases in network costs, with an average increase of 175% compared with a 45% increase for domestic customers between 2020 and 2026. The Government remains committed to delivering a balanced approach to facilitate data centre demand while also ensuring overall energy security and affordability for consumers and businesses. The Government will continue to actively monitor the current geopolitical situation and the impact on energy markets and remains ready to respond as circumstances evolve. Again, I thank Deputies from across the House for their contributions today. However, I do not accept the motion before the House and present the Government's countermotion in its place. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-17