Pa Daly: Government failed on energy - households pay, data centres don't
Pa Daly addresses a Dáil debate on energy affordability, criticising the government's counter-motion and calling for immediate action on energy credits, transparency and fair network charges. He warns that households are shouldering soaring bills while data centres now consume 22% of Ireland's electricity and pay disproportionately low network charges.
Pa Daly sets out why the government's response - including delays from the National Energy Affordability Taskforce and limited amendments to schemes - is inadequate while families remain in hardship. He cites ESRI findings and official reports showing Ireland pays roughly 40% more for electricity than the European average and records rising household arrears.
Daly identifies network charges as a central driver of high costs and criticises a lack of data transparency from the regulator. He says energy giants are posting large profits and the government has not intervened to protect ordinary households.
Sinn Féin's proposals, Daly explains, include reintroducing electricity credits to give families breathing space, strengthening the regulator's powers to investigate pricing and hedging strategies, and enforcing a prioritisation framework to hold companies to account.
Daly challenges the government's approach to data centre expansion, arguing that households are effectively subsidising large energy users. He calls for restructuring network charges and the PSO levy so that data centres pay their fair share and grid use is prioritised for public benefit.
He also highlights the potential of offshore wind - referencing a 540 gigawatt figure - and stresses the need for state investment to achieve energy independence and a just transition away from systems favouring corporate profit.
Main points and criticism
Pa Daly sets out why the government's response - including delays from the National Energy Affordability Taskforce and limited amendments to schemes - is inadequate while families remain in hardship. He cites ESRI findings and official reports showing Ireland pays roughly 40% more for electricity than the European average and records rising household arrears.
Cost drivers and accountability
Daly identifies network charges as a central driver of high costs and criticises a lack of data transparency from the regulator. He says energy giants are posting large profits and the government has not intervened to protect ordinary households.
Proposed solutions
Sinn Féin's proposals, Daly explains, include reintroducing electricity credits to give families breathing space, strengthening the regulator's powers to investigate pricing and hedging strategies, and enforcing a prioritisation framework to hold companies to account.
Data centres and equity
Daly challenges the government's approach to data centre expansion, arguing that households are effectively subsidising large energy users. He calls for restructuring network charges and the PSO levy so that data centres pay their fair share and grid use is prioritised for public benefit.
Offshore wind and long-term strategy
He also highlights the potential of offshore wind - referencing a 540 gigawatt figure - and stresses the need for state investment to achieve energy independence and a just transition away from systems favouring corporate profit.
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Transcript
First of all I'd like to congratulate you on your elevation and I suppose it's obvious then that you have to take one for the team by being the only one from, no other Minister has come in from the relevant department to deal with this, but fair play to you. But I just want to say that I'm disappointed with what has been prepared as the counter-motion by your colleagues in government. You're maintaining that the government is acutely aware of the pressure faced by high energy costs and mentions the National Energy Affordability Taskforce which has been sitting now for over a year but we're still going to have to wait until quarter three of this year to have the action plan while families, households, people are suffering. The EV scheme, even though there has been some recent amendments to it, has been for the main part nothing more than a wealth transfer to people who can afford cars that are worth 55,000 or more. The retrofitting scheme has been unaffordable for many people in rural areas and the offshore wind, one of your own Ministers said on Radio Kerry that the government has been sitting on their hands and navel-gazing on it and I can't say that I disagree with the wise words from that particular Minister. But in all, the government has been failing on climate action. We have a huge potential for a hopeful vision of the 540 gigawatts of renewable energy in offshore wind. We can achieve the energy independence but we need state investment also. As you know, the highest electricity prices in the EU and recent reports from ESRI and yours that show we're paying 40% more than the European average, 480 more than average bills, and the third highest increase in costs behind Austria and Romania. So there are a record number of households in arrears, as you've already heard, and their debt levels are higher and they're lasting for longer than ever before. The ESRI called for an independent investigation for the regulator to release the data for independent analysis but the government and the regulator have refused. One of the key drivers is network costs. Government hasn't intervened. They're saying that we must get the balance right, we must keep our powder dry, there's nothing they can do, it's all the fault of the war in Ukraine, it's all the fault of the war in Iran. It's too complex and it's too technical to fix but that's not the case. We used to have the lowest electricity price in the EU and now we have the highest and Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael have presided over this change. Not only did they do nothing to stop it, they reinforced the system, they chose not to intervene and the energy giants are posting enormous profits. Profits have been driven, as I said, by crisis, war and instability. But there are solutions. We believe in transparency and in fairness, in just transition and an energy system that delivers for the public good rather than for corporate profit. So we brought legislation ourselves, common sense measures to give the energy regulator the teeth it needs to hold energy companies to account, to include a prioritisation framework, but we need immediate action on that. And that's why Sinn Féin called for the reintroduction of energy credits and I see that that's in the motion that has been proposed by Deputy Ahern and I commend him for bringing his motion to the Dáil to allow space to discuss this. We wanted the electricity credits to give families breathing space while we fix the deeper structural problems that have left Ireland with some of the highest energy costs in Europe. To reduce prices long term we need to address the flaws and we wanted to strengthen oversight of energy companies pricing and hedging strategies, allow the regulator to investigate and sanction anti-competitive behaviour and increase transparency. So it comes to the government's reckless approach to data centres. They consume massive amounts of electricity, drive demand, strain on the grid and who is footing the bill? Only ordinary workers and families paying six, eight or maybe ten times more network charges than data centres and double the unit price. And what did Eurostat in their report identify as the leading factor in Ireland's extortion energy costs? Network charges. So we must also address one of the glaring injustices in our system, it's the imbalance between what households and large energy users like data centres are paying. So households are effectively subsidising the corporations that are driving up demand on our grid and therefore prices to boot. The biggest users are paying the least and households are paying the price for these grid upgrades. Data centres must pay their fair share. We need to restructure the charges and the PSO levy and prioritise the use of our grid for the public good rather than unfettered data centre expansion. As I said, families are dealing with these soaring electricity bills and data centres have now consumed 22% of Ireland's electricity and that is only increasing. So a stall needs to be put on them and we are calling on the government to act to rebalance the system.