Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Government Cynical on Energy & Fishermen
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn challenges the government over energy policy failures and the lack of supports for inshore fishermen in a Dáil debate. He accuses Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil of privatising Ireland's electricity system, leaving households and coastal communities exposed.
Main accusation: wasted opportunities and political timing
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn opens by commending Independent Ireland's motion and argues successive governments wasted chances to tackle price gouging by energy companies. He calls the introduction and withdrawal of energy credits a cynical political stunt timed around the last general election rather than a genuine attempt to protect households.
Privatisation and rising costs
Mac Lochlainn traces responsibility to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for privatising what he describes as a once-proud publicly owned electrification system. He contrasts past low electricity costs with today's high prices and says the state failed both in the handover to private companies and in planning for renewable energy infrastructure.
Renewables rollout and fishing communities
The speech criticises the handling of onshore and offshore wind projects, citing turbines idle for lack of grid infrastructure and stalled offshore plans due to poor stakeholder engagement with fishermen. Mac Lochlainn presses the Minister to consult colleagues, including Minister Timmy Dooley and Minister Harris, to introduce fuel subsidies and financial support for roughly 900 inshore fishermen to sustain coastal communities.
Consequences and requests
He concludes by urging targeted subsidies to keep inshore fishermen working and communities viable, stressing the proposals are already on the table and asking the Minister to engage with colleagues to deliver a sustainable future for fishing communities across Mayo and the state.
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Minister, first of all I'd like to commend Independent Ireland on the motion and it's an important debate that we're having here and it's very very clear that governments have wasted opportunity after opportunity. The energy credit calls from the opposition were supposed to alleviate the burden of homeowners but also to give breathing space to government to take on the price gouging of the energy companies and every time you had that opportunity you wasted it. I'm of the view that government were cynical because the last time you brought them in were days before the last general election. I don't believe it was an attempt to deal with price gouging. I believe it was a cynical political stunt because you've withdrawn them in harder times that are there now and the failure to deal with the energy companies is, it's unforgivable because it was Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil policy that gave away what was a proud electrification system that we built up, the Irish people. We built it up ourselves in hard times with visionaries that were there at that time and we handed it away to private companies. We had the cheapest electricity in Europe. Today we have the most expensive electricity in Europe and we have a failure not only in terms of how you privatized what was a proud publicly owned amenity but then in terms of wind energy. If you look at wind energy on land half the turbines are turned off because the electricity infrastructure isn't there. If you look at offshore renewable energy you've made a mess of it on the east coast. You didn't consult with stakeholders like fishermen and now people are locked into legal battles and the whole process is stalled because of the arrogance and the mess that was there. Again because you were too close to industry and you weren't thinking about the best interests of our people. My final comments today are going to be around fishermen Minister. Where have been the supports for fishermen over recent years? Even after Brexit you never once brought in fuel subsidies. Never once through all the price shocks that were there in terms of the war on Ukraine, in terms of Brexit. Not once was fuel subsidies introduced. Inshore fishermen got nothing, absolutely nothing. And Minister, as somebody who represents a coastal constituency, I'm asking that you engage with your colleague Minister Timmy Dooley and engage with your colleague and party leader Minister Harris around the requests for financial subsidies for inshore fishermen. It's about 900 as we understand active across the state. It would not be hard to keep them in the water, to keep those communities flourishing. But it needs subsidies. They never asked for it before. They're there now. They're requesting it now. They've got a really good proposal on the table and I'm asking you Minister to engage with your colleagues and to try to deliver a sustainable future for your inshore fishermen all around your coast in Mayo but all around the state. I'd ask you to do that please.
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