Labour leader Ivana Bacik has said that the government are taking the side of energy companies over families struggling with the cost of living crisis.
In this year’s Budget, the government removed energy supports that were present in the last few Budgets as cost of living measures.
The Dublin Bay South TD said, “families across the country are entering the winter months terrified about how they will heat their homes. Meanwhile, energy companies are hiking prices and recording record profits.”
“We have seen Flogas hike prices by seven per cent after their parent company recorded operating profits of €820 million. Bord Gáis made €75 million in profits and is now adding €218 a year to the average bill. Energia and Pinergy have followed suit with double-digit price increases despite enormous profits. This is nothing short of profiteering at a time of national hardship.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin accused Bacik of “playing to the gallery” with her remarks, which Bacik dubbed “disingenuous.”
“The government’s attempt to skirt responsibility by talking about taskforces and reviews is simply not good enough. Families need action now.”
Bacik criticised the scrapping of energy credits in this year’s Budget, a move the Taoiseach defended by saying it “benefits energy companies.”
“That analysis ignores the reality on the ground. People depended on those credits to keep the lights on and the heating running. Removing them without providing any sustainable alternative is appalling,” she said.
She remarked, “ministers are perfectly happy to ignore economic wisdom when it suits developers or lobbyists.”
“The government’s ill-conceived VAT cut will cost the State €681 million in a single year, with no evidence it will save a single job or business. Yet when it comes to direct supports for ordinary families, they suddenly become slaves to undergraduate economics. That double standard tells everything about their priorities.
The Labour TD noted that under EU Electricity and Gas Directives, price regulation is allowed in exceptional circumstances, which she argues is “precisely the kind of market failure we are now seeing.”
“The government could use this power to protect vulnerable customers. Section 10 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 also empowers the Minister to issue policy directions to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. Why isn’t this being used?
“If the government will not act, then they should at least threaten these greed-driven companies with a levy on their profits unless they reduce prices. It is clear that voluntary restraint is not working.”
Bacik stated, “this winter, households will face impossible choices because of government failure; it is long past time for the Taoiseach to take on the energy giants and put people before profits. The era of inaction must end now.”