Paul Murphy: Calls for Price Controls and Public Ownership of Energy
Paul Murphy criticised rising energy bills as the result of corporate profiteering and urged immediate measures including price controls and a return to public ownership. He said companies are exploiting the invasion of Ukraine to drive up prices and called on Sinn Féin to back an amendment for price caps alongside tax cuts.
Argument on energy prices
Murphy argued that the rise in energy prices is often treated as if it were a natural disaster, when in fact it reflects market profiteering. He criticised the presentation of private market forces as immutable laws and said supply and demand dynamics are being used by fossil fuel companies to push up costs.
Example - Borgosch and Centrica
He singled out Borgosch, saying the firm is increasing gas bills by 39% next month and remains profitable. Murphy noted Borgosch was privatised and sold to the British energy giant Centrica, and that its profits doubled last year to over a billion euros, despite no rise in production costs for gas, oil or renewables.
Policy proposals urged
Murphy agreed with Sinn Féin's calls to scrap carbon taxes and to cut excise and VAT, but he urged Sinn Féin to support his party's amendment for price controls. He warned that without price caps fossil fuel companies will simply pocket any tax or duty cuts, as they apparently did with a recent excise duty reduction.
Call for public ownership
He called for capping energy prices at affordable levels for ordinary people and for bringing the energy system back into public ownership under democratic control. Murphy argued the system should be run in the interests of workers and householders rather than for profit, which he said is the cause of the current crisis.
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Thanks Count Corla. I think there is a lot of mysticism that goes on when talking about the increase in energy prices, which basically presents what are laws of a private, for-profit market as if they are laws of nature, as if these prices are just all going up by themselves, a natural disaster, there is nothing that can be done about it. And it removes what is actually going on, which is the profiteering that has already been spoken about. One other example, Borgosch, people will know, they are increasing gas bills by 39% next month. People simply can't afford it. But Borgosch is a profitable company. It's a company that was privatised, it's a company that's been sold off to the British energy giant Centrica, and it's a company whose profits doubled last year to over a billion euros. There is no increase in the cost of producing gas, in the cost of producing oil, certainly in the cost of producing energy from wind or solar power. Instead, what is happening is supply and demand. In other words, massive profiteering by the fossil fuel industry internationally, taking advantage of the invasion of Ukraine to drive up prices. And nothing is being done to tackle the profiteering. Sinn Féin is right to say, we need to scrap the carbon taxes, we need to cut the excise and the VAT. But I would also urge Sinn Féin to back our call, our amendment for price controls. Because otherwise there is nothing to stop the fossil fuel companies from simply pocketing these cuts, like they seem to have done with the recent excise duty cut. We need to stand up to the profiteers, we need to cap energy prices at levels that are affordable for ordinary people, and we need to bring the energy system back into public ownership under democratic control, so it can be run in the interests of ordinary people, both workers and householders, as opposed to being run for profit, which is the cause of the current crisis. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to this. Thank you.
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