Carol Nolan on energy crisis: calls out profiteering, faults policy
Carol Nolan criticised the government's handling of the energy price crisis, arguing inertia and past policy errors have driven up electricity costs. She called for the government to confront energy companies over profiteering, push for energy self-sufficiency and proceed with planned storage while warning it will take years.
Carol Nolan said the energy price crisis reflects a government paralysed by inertia and blamed earlier policy choices for worsening the situation. She acknowledged that a storage facility will now proceed but emphasised that the solution will take years to provide relief.
She criticised the previous "Green Party era" where, she said, the tail wagged the dog and energy independence in the form of LNG or oil and gas exploration was treated as almost a heresy. She also described the closure of Shannon Bridge Power Station as one of the huge mistakes that was made.
Carol Nolan highlighted the immediate impact on people, saying many elderly households and small businesses are struggling with high electricity prices. She reported that some small businesses have closed and said she has received such reports from her own constituency of Ofli.
She demanded that energy companies be called out for an end to profiteering and asked for a clear message from the government that companies must respect people and be fair on prices. She warned that Ireland is among the highest in Europe for electricity costs.
Main points
Carol Nolan said the energy price crisis reflects a government paralysed by inertia and blamed earlier policy choices for worsening the situation. She acknowledged that a storage facility will now proceed but emphasised that the solution will take years to provide relief.
Policy history and mistakes
She criticised the previous "Green Party era" where, she said, the tail wagged the dog and energy independence in the form of LNG or oil and gas exploration was treated as almost a heresy. She also described the closure of Shannon Bridge Power Station as one of the huge mistakes that was made.
Households and small businesses
Carol Nolan highlighted the immediate impact on people, saying many elderly households and small businesses are struggling with high electricity prices. She reported that some small businesses have closed and said she has received such reports from her own constituency of Ofli.
Calls for action on profiteering
She demanded that energy companies be called out for an end to profiteering and asked for a clear message from the government that companies must respect people and be fair on prices. She warned that Ireland is among the highest in Europe for electricity costs.
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Transcript
Minister, for many people the energy price crisis reflects a government paralysed by inertia. It reflects a government that is only now slowly turning away from the madness of the Green Party era when the tail wagged a dog and energy independence in the form of LNG or oil and gas exploration was considered almost a heresy. I acknowledge that things are turning in the right direction here and that the storage facility will now proceed, but the problem is that this will take years and we should be self-sufficient in terms of energy. I have always said that in here. I know there were many mistakes made with the closure of Shannon Bridge Power Station. It was one of the huge mistakes that was made. In terms of electricity prices, I know many people, particularly elderly people, are really struggling and so are small businesses. I am aware that many small businesses have closed and I have been made aware of that in my own constituency of Ofli. I am asking for the energy companies to be called out for an end to their profiteering and for a message to go from this government that they do need to respect people and be fair in terms of prices. We know that Ireland here is one of the highest in Europe. Thank you, Deputy Deputy.