Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I raise the devastating news for 650 staff at Tara Mines, their families, the thousands of indirect jobs in Navan and County Meath and the wider community. On my behalf and on that of Deputy Guirke, I extend solidarity to those workers and their families. We hear this is temporary and related to the commodities market, the price of zinc, energy costs, general inflation and operational challenges and that the mine is to enter into a period of care and maintenance. We heard and re…

I thank Deputies Ó Broin and Brady for putting this motion forward. It is important and I ask the Government to withdraw its amendment. The fact that it includes the statement that "a high-risk environment" has been created for the public by this action by firefighters is shameful and that needs to be withdrawn. Firefighters have taken this action because of Government inaction. I want to extend solidarity to firefighters in County Meath in Navan, Trim, Kells, Dunshaughlin, Oldcastle, Nobber and Ashbourne stations,…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion and I thank Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and the Social Democrats for bringing it forward. The shortage of, and absolute need for, affordable homes to buy is a major issue throughout the State and in my own county of Meath. The motion calls on the Government to dramatically increase the delivery of genuinely affordable purchase homes in line with the Ó Cualann model. In County Meath, we have a proven track record relative to other counties in delivering housing, but it is…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. Our planet is facing unprecedented challenge with the loss of biodiversity threatening the very foundation of our ecosystems and the wellbeing of all living things. Biodiversity is the complex and interconnected ecosystem that is the beating heart of our society and economy. Large swathes of it face destruction and extinction. We must all act to protect nature. Our future and that of future generations depends on it. On that, there must be no questio…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on biodiversity action and I welcome the fact we are having this debate. Nature is under threat everywhere. We are in the midst of a global biodiversity crisis. Our life support system, the interconnected ecosystem that is the beating heart of our societies and economies, is being degraded, homogenised and destroyed. The figures are stark and they cannot be denied. In 2019, a biodiversity emergency was declared in Ireland. It is an invisible tragedy on land and water that is getti…

It is a little over a year since medical scientists went on strike for the first time in 60 years. Since then, the independent Medical Scientist Grade Assessment Report by Conall Devine was commissioned and reported and vindicated the position of medical scientists and their legitimate claim for pay parity with clinical biochemists. The report was published in January this year yet still five months on, medical scientists are forced to wait. The HSE, the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure…

I also welcome Senator Murkowski. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. Offshore renewables have the potential to decarbonise our energy system, the electricity, heat, transport and the residential sectors and those of large parts of Europe and have the potential to transform the Irish economy if we use our abundant natural resources to create national wealth and good jobs in every corner of Ireland supporting thriving communities. The risk, of course, and it is a real one with this Government, is that…

As a Deputy for County Meath and proud to be so, I welcome the Tánaiste’s comments on the dreadful attack in Navan and the solidarity extended. I welcome the same from the Taoiseach and across the political divide. It is echoed in the town of Navan, the county and across the country. I echo Deputy Doherty’s call for a comprehensive and appropriate response. As the Tánaiste said, we all need to work harder. I thank him for that. I raise the recruitment and retention crisis in the retained fire service. Talks between…

The windfall tax. Introduce a windfall tax.

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate this evening. I commend Deputy Brady on his work, along with others, on drafting this important and excellent legislation. The case for supporting this Bill could not be clearer. At its essence, this Bill is a critical tool to end Irish State investment in companies that are complicit in war crimes. In 2021 this Dáil led the way when it became the first Parliament in the European Union to recognise Israel's illegal occupation as an annexation. In this, we …

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 to give the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) the legislative remit required to effectively monitor and regulate standing charges on electricity and gas bills, and to provide for related matters. The past 18 months have put into sharp focus just how essential it is we have a regulatory body that has the ability to effectively monitor and supervise the energy market. Instead, what we have is abso…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

It would be important, in the context of our own decarbonisation and our role in decarbonising the wider European Union energy system, to have our own affairs in order and to realise the potential of our renewables. This morning, on "Morning Ireland", Dr. Frank Crowley of University College Cork, UCC, reporting on EU-funded research, was scathingly critical of the Government and, using a term the Taoiseach himself has used, called us laggards and pointed to a failure to engage with the sector. At the same time, Mar…

I thank everyone who contributed to the debate. I will come back on a number of points but it is clear from the debate and listening to the Government's response and reading its extensive and long countermotion, that it has not done enough to protect consumers, to rein in energy companies and to ensure fair practice within the energy sector here. That failure is not measured in statistics but in the human and social cost. We have it in terms of statistics, in that 377,000 people are living in energy poverty, accord…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that unsustainably high energy bills continue to put workers and families under significant financial pressure; notes that: — the average cost of gas and electricity bills has doubled over the last year; — the price of electricity in Ireland is the highest in Europe, and the price of gas is the eighth most expensive according to a European Household Energy Price Index; — the number of people living in energy poverty has doubled over the last year, and at its peak was reported t…

France - €100 per kilowatt-hour.

I thank everyone who contributed to the debate. I will come back on a number of points but it is clear from the debate and listening to the Government's response and reading its extensive and long countermotion, that it has not done enough to protect consumers, to rein in energy companies and to ensure fair practice within the energy sector here. That failure is not measured in statistics but in the human and social cost. We have it in terms of statistics, in that 377,000 people are living in energy poverty, accord…

I ask the Minister if he will outline the engagements, if any, the Commissioner for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, has had with energy providers here to ensure reductions in wholesale prices are passed on to customers and the measures he will take to ensure that the super-excess windfall profits of those companies for all 2022 will be captured in the planned windfall tax measures.

That is the most pathetic answer I have ever heard. The Minister has responsibility for this area but he is acting like a commentator. As far as I can see, energy companies are laughing at him, the Government and the regulator, which the Minister refuses to resource and empower. By extension, these companies are laughing at ordinary customers. This is not something I cannot stand for. The companies in question are reporting record profits, charging the highest prices in Europe, as reported, and, according to this m…

I have two questions. What engagement has the Minister had directly with energy companies to ensure the reductions in wholesale prices are passed on to customers? Equally, and the Minister referred to this in his initial response, the cap on market revenues is wholly inadequate. It does not capture any of the bumper profits companies made during last July, August and September. A price of €92 per megawatt hour is profitable for wind and solar energy suppliers. Those companies were getting more than €400 per megawat…