Paul Murphy: Demands Price Controls, Renationalisation in Energy Crisis
Paul Murphy addressed the Dáil on the energy price crisis, criticising the Government's response as inadequate and urging immediate measures to protect households. He rejected both fossil-fuel expansion and carbon-tax centric approaches and set out alternatives including price controls and renationalisation.
Main criticism of Government response
The speaker said the Government had been warned about the energy price crisis but had done effectively nothing for ordinary people, offering only an inadequate fuel allowance top-up. He highlighted extra winter costs of 500, 600, 700 euros and up to 1,000 euros for some households and warned the consequence would be devastating for those who cannot afford to pay.
Rejection of fossil-fuel expansion and carbon-tax remedy
He argued against climate denialism that calls for digging for more gas or keeping fossil-fuel power stations open, saying "there is no energy crisis on a dead planet." He also challenged the view that carbon tax is an accepted solution, citing a study of 26 jurisdictions which he said suggested a carbon-tax effect would take 110 years, and warned that big oil promotes carbon taxes because they avoid leaving fossil fuels in the ground.
Alternative measures proposed
He called for stopping further data centre expansion, noting data centres are projected to use 30% of the country's energy by the end of the decade, and said continuing to expand them undermines the shift to renewables. He urged immediate price controls via ministerial order to stop extortionate prices and advocated renationalisation of the energy sector to guarantee decent jobs and use the sector to deliver a full renewable energy transition.
Fuel allowance and means-test dispute
He raised a specific dispute over the government's fuel allowance changes, noting a five-euro weekly increase and a 20-euro rise in the means-test threshold. He described a case where the department told a claimant the means-test increase would not take effect until January despite the Taoiseach saying the decisions would apply immediately; he called on the Taoiseach to correct the Dáil record or to fix the administrative implementation so the claimant can access support before January.
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Thanks a lot. There's a huge crisis facing ordinary people in terms of energy prices, and the Government can't say they haven't been warned about it. We've warned them, it's been repeatedly raised in the media, and the Government has done effectively nothing for everybody except something completely inadequate for those who are on fuel allowance. For everybody else, the Government is saying, well, suck it up, your extra 500 euros, 600 euros, 700 euros, up to 1,000 euros for some people this winter, when people simply cannot afford to pay it. The consequence will be devastating. But the answer, of course, as has been outlined very elegantly by my colleague, is not the kind of climate denialism that is at the core of this motion, in terms of exploring more and digging up more gas, or in terms of keeping fossil fuel power stations open. There is no energy, there is no energy crisis on a dead planet, and that's where those sort of policies will lead us. But it's also not in the Government's counter motion, which is eco-austerity in the form of carbon taxes. I want to make the point, because I've seen it referenced in the media in an off-hand way, I think Pat Lee had it in an article a couple of weeks ago, saying everybody accepts that carbon tax is an important part of how to address the climate crisis. But that's not true. That is not true. That's not what the evidence suggests. The international evidence says, for example, a study of 26 jurisdictions, which brought in carbon taxes, said that in order to have an effect, it would take 110 years. We don't have 110 years. There is a reason that the main people now who are pushing for carbon taxes is the fossil fuel corporations. It's big oil. And the reason they're doing that is because they know it's not going to hit them where it actually hurts, which is saying you have to leave the fossil fuels in the ground. And they also know it turns people off climate action, because it presents climate action as a thing that's going to make people's lives harder, as opposed to something that's going to make people's lives easier. The answer instead is what has been contained in our motions previously. Stop with the data centres, which is strikingly absent from both motion and counter motion, projected to use 30% of our energy by the end of the decade. It's us attempting to shift to renewables, while continuing to expand data centres is attempting to walk down an escalator, which is going up. To have price controls, again, absent from the motion, the government has the power, ministerial order can say price controls now, you have to stop the extortionate prices on ordinary people, and renationalisation of the sector, and using it then to guarantee decent jobs, decent services for communities and for homes, and to use it as an instrument in a change in energy policy towards full renewable energy. Final point, I want to raise a particular point about fuel allowance. The government made much of the paltry five euros extra a week, a third of what is necessary in the budget, but they also announced at the same time that they're going to increase the means test by 20 euros. I have been working with a particular man who is just over the current means test. We heard that the news said the means test is going up. Great. Contact the department. The department told me, no, no, no, the means test isn't being increased until next January. So I asked the Taoiseach about it, and the Taoiseach in the Dáil said the government decision was to implement the decisions with immediate effect on budget night. The two key decisions were the amount of five euros and the increase in the threshold. It could be an administrative issue. I've gone back to the department. The department confirms he will not be able to access his fuel allowance until January. So either the Taoiseach needs to correct the record of the Dáil that he misled the Dáil, or preferably you fix the decision. And so you don't accept a situation where you say he's going to need the fuel allowance in January, but somehow he's supposed to scrape by in November and December. Więc c by by by by by by by by by by by W by by by
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