Time to rein in energy company greed

Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD has today accused the Taoiseach of abandoning struggling households to the mercy of profiteering energy companies, at Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil this afternoon. Deputy Bacik said Government has removed essential energy supports while refusing to take meaningful action to tackle corporate greed or introduce structural reform to protect consumers.

Deputy Bacik said:

“Families across the country are entering the winter months terrified about how they will heat their homes. Meanwhile, energy companies are hiking prices and recording record profits.

“We have seen Flogas hike prices by seven per cent after their parent company recorded operating profits of €820 million. Bord Gáis made €75 million in profits and is now adding €218 a year to the average bill. Energia and Pinergy have followed suit with double-digit price increases despite enormous profits. This is nothing short of profiteering at a time of national hardship.

“The Taoiseach accused me today of ‘playing to the gallery’. That is a deeply disingenuous response to the real hardship people are facing. The Government’s attempt to skirt responsibility by talking about taskforces and reviews is simply not good enough. Families need action now.

“By scrapping the energy credits, this Government has pulled the rug from under thousands of households. The Taoiseach claimed these supports only benefited energy companies, but that analysis ignores the reality on the ground. People depended on those credits to keep the lights on and the heating running. Removing them without providing any sustainable alternative is appalling.

Ministers are perfectly happy to ignore economic wisdom when it suits developers or lobbyists. The Government’s ill-conceived VAT cut will cost the State €681 million in a single year, with no evidence it will save a single job or business. Yet when it comes to direct supports for ordinary families, they suddenly become slaves to undergraduate economics. That double standard tells everything about their priorities.

“Under EU Electricity and Gas Directives, price regulation is allowed in exceptional circumstances – precisely the kind of market failure we are now seeing. Government could use this power to protect vulnerable customers. Section 10 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 also empowers the Minister to issue policy directions to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. Why isn’t this being used?

“If Government will not act, then they should at least threaten these greed-driven companies with a levy on their profits unless they reduce prices. It is clear that voluntary restraint is not working.

“This winter, households will face impossible choices because of Government failure. It is long past time for the Taoiseach to take on the energy giants and put people before profits. Labour is calling for real structural reform to ensure fair pricing, meaningful regulation, and protection for families from corporate greed. The era of inaction must end now.”