Paul Murphy calls for nationalisation of the energy sector
Paul Murphy moved People Before Profit's motion calling for the nationalisation of the energy sector and urgent price controls, arguing the state must prioritise people's needs over corporate profit. He framed the debate as a dual crisis of spiralling energy poverty and accelerating climate breakdown and accused private companies of profiteering.
Motion and demand
Paul Murphy urged the Dáil to nationalise the energy sector and to use existing consumer protection powers to impose price controls. He argued price controls alone are inadequate if energy remains privately owned and said public ownership is required to run energy services on the basis of need rather than profit.
Cost-of-living and energy poverty
He described a severe cost-of-living crisis with soaring fuel, electricity, food and housing costs and warned that nearly one in two families face energy poverty this winter. He criticised the budget's one-off measures as inadequate and warned that people are being forced to choose between heating and eating, contributing to excess winter deaths.
Corporate profits and market ownership
Murphy highlighted large profits by international oil and gas companies and Irish firms, citing examples such as Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, and domestic figures including the ESB's 390 million euro profit in the first six months and a 74% rise in profits at Borgash Energy to 39.5 million euros. He named three multimillionaires controlling the Irish prepay energy market and noted recent price rises at Pinergy, owned by a multibillionaire.
Climate urgency and renewable progress
He linked the cost crisis to ecological breakdown, citing floods in Pakistan, droughts in China, heat waves in the US and Europe and famine risk in the Horn of Africa. He warned the window to secure a liveable future is closing, pointed to slow progress on renewables - only seven offshore wind turbines in 20 years - and noted 87% of total energy use still comes from fossil fuels, 70% of it imported.
Historical precedent and critique of liberalisation
Murphy recalled the nearly 100-year history of the ESB as a publicly owned, non-profit electricity provider that kept prices low until market liberalisation in the 1990s and 2000s. He blamed that liberalisation and privatisation for rising prices, weakened worker rights and enrichment of corporations and individuals.
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I am very happy to move People Before Profit's motion for the nationalisation of the energy sector. We are facing a double crisis at the moment. On the one hand we have an immense cost-of-living crisis, with people facing soaring fuel costs, electricity costs, food and housing costs. One in two families are facing into this winter into a situation of energy poverty. We find that just a few weeks before Christmas that energy poverty has rocketed to an unprecedented 40% of households in the state, and despite all the fanfare of the budget, the inadequate one-off measures were nowhere near enough. On the other side we have the ecological crises, both climate and biodiversity breakdown. You look at the floods in Pakistan, the droughts in China, the heat waves that we experienced in the US and in Europe over the course of the summer. You look at the hundreds of thousands of people facing imminent death through starvation as a consequence of climate change in the Horn of Africa, and you look at the dismal failure of COP once again. With the window to achieve a liveable future for humanity continues to rapidly close. Both of those crises are two sides of the same coin. That coin is a system of ecocidal capitalism which is driven by profit at all costs, without regard for the human misery of people being unable to afford to heat their homes or to feed their families, and without regard to the impact they are having on the planet that we all have to live on and attempt to have a sustainable life on. Immense profits are being made. Let us be under no illusion about that. Obviously the biggest profits are taking place at an international level, the major fossil fuel corporations. You can compare the profits that the big oil and gas companies made in quarter two of this year compared to quarter two of last year. They have exploded. Shell, $11.5 billion in the second quarter of this year versus $5 billion of last year, Exxon Mobil $18 billion in the quarter of this year, four times what they got previously, last year Chevron $10 billion a tripling. Massive profits being made by the oil and gas giants on an international level. That profiteering is also taking place in this country. In the first six months of this year the ESB made a profit of 390 million euros. Borgash Energy recorded a 74% rise in profits in the first half of this year to 39.5 million euros. Its parent company Centrica, which also owns British gas in the UK, made operating profits of $1.3 billion in the second quarter, mostly from its oil and gas drilling division. SSE Electricity's parent company, SSE, their pre-tax profits rose 44% in the year to March, 3.5 billion euros. Just three multimillionaires control the Irish prepay energy market and are allowed by this government to rip off some of the most deprived people in the state. Ulrich Kenny and Andrew Collins are on the Irish rich list and own prepay power, while Pinergy, which has just announced yet another round of price increases, is owned by multibillionaire Peter Coates with a personal wealth of over £8 billion. I could go on and on about the immense profiteering that is going on. Yesterday Minister Eamon Ryan said he cannot foresee any significant reduction in household gas or electricity bills for the next year or two. That is incredible. What incredible news to give people before Christmas. We cannot accept that as a society, that people are going to be left in these horrendous positions of having to choose between heating or eating, and some dying as a consequence, as we see in the figures for excess deaths in winter in this country. We should act now. We were the first, it is over a year ago now to bring in a motion to the Dáil to say the government should use the powers that it has to bring in price controls on energy. The government has that power and they can do it with two strokes of a pen under the consumer protection legislation. We think that absolutely has to happen, but we are also making the point that that by itself will be inadequate. If you leave control of the energy market in the private system, introducing price controls will only be achievable on the basis of writing a blank cheque to the private energy companies, as for example the Tories did. You cannot control what you do not own. Therefore we need to bring the energy sector into public ownership, run it on the basis of people's needs as opposed to profit. The reason for that is clear in terms of the cost of living crisis, but it is also very clear in relation to the climate crisis. We have a progress towards being carbon neutral at an extremely slow pace. It is a snail's pace. Over the last 20 years, a grand total of seven offshore wind turbines have been developed. 87 per cent of our total energy use continues to come from fossil fuels, 70 per cent of it from imported fossil fuels. Despite all the talk, Ireland's emissions continue to rise. It is fundamentally time to change that script. Almost 100 years ago, when the country was far poorer than it is today, and the state was still in its infancy, it established the ESB, a publicly owned not-for-profit company that electrified the whole state and provided low-cost, affordable electricity to millions. That situation continued until the so-called liberalisation of the energy market in the 1990s and 2000s. It was very simple. The ESB provided everyone with low-cost electricity. It had a non-profit mandate. It was actually barred by law from making profits in order to keep prices low for households and prices remained among the lowest in Europe for decades. That process of liberalisation and reality privatisation, which was an international process of neoliberalism, was a disaster everywhere. Everywhere it led to profits for a series of very rich corporations and individuals. Decline in terms of workers' rights and conditions and significant increases and soaring prices. We went from some of the cheapest prices in Europe to some of the most expensive prices in Europe and a huge slowness to invest in renewable energy because the for-profit companies simply did not want to take the risk. It is time to re-nationalise our energy system. The idea is gaining ground internationally as the only way to address the climate and cost of living crises and make the essential changes we need. It means operating the energy sector as a not-for-profit public utility under the democratic control of workers and communities. It means driving the electrification of all aspects of the economy, a just transition to 100 per cent renewable energy and reductions in energy usage. To get to zero emissions, we need to electrify everything using cheap renewable energy. That is simply not going to happen if we continue to rely on private companies to do it, no matter how many incentives or more price increases they get. What we propose in terms of how the nationalisation of the energy system would take place is five steps. Firstly, reintegrate the ESB group and operate it on a not-for-profit mandate. Under the current legislation, the ESB is not allowed to use the profits it makes from generation to subsidise the price. It should be brought back into one integrated entity. It should be reinstated with a not-for-profit mandate, with the addition of a mandate to deliver a rapid programme of electrification of all possible sectors of the economy, a rapid and just transition to renewable energy and low-cost electricity for households. By Electric Ireland offering affordable electricity on a not-for-profit basis, customers will be encouraged to leave the much more expensive private electricity supply companies. All workers in those companies should be guaranteed a quality green job within the ESB group. Secondly, nationalise the major private electricity generators. Electricity generation is too important to be left in private hands. They should be nationalised and integrated into the ESB group, including the nationalisation of the car and gas field. The government already has the power to do it under the Fuel Control of Supplies Acts of 1971 and 1982. There must be no question of compensating the private energy companies and their millionaire owners who have engaged in rampant profiteering and destruction of the environment. Non-renewable generation should be shut down as soon as possible on the basis of energy reductions and the development of renewables. Thirdly, transform the Commission for Regulation of Utilities into a People's Power Energy with a mandate not to promote competition, but to ensure the delivery of affordable electricity. Fourthly, reduce energy usage throughout the economy by prioritising people's needs over corporate profits. Let us reject this drive of more and more data centres and invest in public transport and retrofitting of people's homes. Fifthly, to recognise renewable power as a natural resource. This is a natural resource for this country. It should only be developed publicly. We need to get on the streets on Saturday, join the Cost of Living Coalition, protest at one o'clock, fight for a left government, but not just any left government, a left government that will actually take on these issues by committing to nationalising the energy sector. Thanks.
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