Brian Stanley: Urgent action needed on fuel prices
Brian Stanley addresses the fuel crisis in the Dail, urging immediate measures to protect consumers and calling on Ireland to join an EU push for a windfall tax. He criticises the state of preparedness, the limits of the CCPC, and the slow pace of renewable energy rollout.
Crisis assessment: Brian Stanley describes the current situation as the most serious fuel crisis since the 1970s and tells the Minister that preparedness and response have been inadequate. He warns that without mechanisms to prevent price gouging consumers will continue to suffer as energy prices remain high.
Price controls and the CCPC: Stanley challenges the role of the Composition, Consumer and Protection Commission, saying there is no mechanism to tackle price gouging and urging either abolition or new powers. He highlights the CCPC report which states controlling prices in a competitive market falls outside current competition and consumer protection law.
EU measures and examples: Stanley points to five EU countries - Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria - that have called for a joint EU-wide windfall tax, and cites Greece's legal limits on retail and wholesale fuel profits as a practical, no-cost model to protect consumers.
Renewables and government messaging: He criticises the painfully slow progress on renewable energy in Ireland - offshore wind, anaerobic digestion, hydro and solar - and backs improved home solar grants. He also criticises government ministers for inflammatory statements during the crisis, warning that careless language makes the situation worse.
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Minister, this is the most serious crisis since the 1970s on fuel. I contacted your office last week and I spoke to your Good Secretary about it, I think she passed it on to you, my concerns about this. The level of preparedness has been shown to be awfully poor, the response and reaction has not been what was required. There's no mechanism to deal with price gouging and I want to say this to you, the CCPC, the Composition, Consumer and Protection Commission, we need to either abolish that or give it some powers because their report out just this week says controlling prices in a competitive market is outside the scope of the competition and consumer protection law. Bang, right? It's been outlined here already, steps that can be taken, I'm going to outline some others. Some EU countries, five EU countries, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria, they've made a call for a joint EU-wide tax, windfall tax, which could be used, the funds could be used to ease the pressure on consumers in the face of high energy prices and they also say they would send a clear message to those companies that are making a profit from the consequences of war. But Ireland is not one of the names on it and I would urge you, I would urge you, Minister, that Ireland needs to put their name to that call as well and to push for this. Greece went on further. Greece has put a limit on the amount of profit that can be made at retail and wholesale level. At retail level, 12 cent per litre they've put on it and they've done that legally, the members of the European Union. They've put a five cent per litre on wholesale. I understand the argument around price caps, you know the taxpayer could wind up with a big bill. This is a way around it. This can be done and it's a practical measure, no cost to it, to the to the exchequer. So the government needs to sort that. Just on renewable energy, the move for renewable energy is painfully slow. We have zero wind offshore, anaerobic digestion is minuscule, hydro nonexistent, solar only starting up and I want to support the call here to improve the grants for solar on homes. Progress needs to be made on all of those. And one last word on the Minister. Last week, one government minister after another made it worse. Jim O'Callaghan coming out and saying he's bringing in the army. People envisage troops on the street with guns, where he was actually talking about was a tow truck. Well he didn't need a big tow truck to move the few pallets below on the bridge in Galway. As I said yesterday, a Ferguson, a massive Ferguson 35 with a frontal loader would have moved a bundle of pallets that was there. And that completely put fuel on the fire. Government need to be more careful in future and listen to people.
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