The reason why
the cost of electricity here in Ireland is higher than our other European
counterparts is because of were on the periphery of, I suppose, mainland Europe.
The transportation costs, the transport.
I'll get to the other issues as well.
The transportation costs around, um, even transporting oil, the
grid network, the fact that our population is more, I suppose,
dispersed in rural Ireland, and that does add cost to it.
But just in relation to still making huge what we have done.
As I said, did you agreed that they're making huge profits?
When we see what we're paying compared to what we have there is in other
European countries? What we have done is reduced the VAT rates on on your gas
and electricity bills from this month right out to October from 13.5% down to 9%
the regulator as well, and this feeds into what has been said earlier.
Our regulator is working at an EU level as well, because
this is not just an issue for Ireland.
This is this energy.
The regulation a little soft around this, that that's been
the criticism in this country level, very many are.
Regulators are regulator.
The CRU, our regulator is working at an EU level and it is going to publish a paper.
For example, there's a levee when you look at your ESB bill, your electricity bill.
There's a levee there that goes towards actually funding
renewable energy be at solar or wind energy.
By October of this year, that will be at zero.
So that works out to about four or €5 month We pay.
We all pay through this levy on our electricity bill that will be reduced, the
war profiteering of electricity.
Okay, I want you to come in, and that is what we're saying is we're looking
at all of this but also working with our European counterparts that it's
not just an issue for Ireland in relation to the rising cost.
Also let encounter weight.
So it only goes down when the profits of these companies go up.
Okay, so So it's a balance thing, so it'll go.
It'll be higher as as the companies do it, so that kind
of it's important and it goes to the right thing.
But that's not really the point the energy cap thing.
They did that in the UK,
three companies went bust almost immediately.
Okay, now, ideologically, you know, maybe this point to be made about whether or not
you should privatise utilities and energy resources and all that kind of thing.
But just putting a cap on how much you can charge doesn't work.
And and I leave it up to others to decide if companies are making
too much money or not enough money or whatever the argument,
Do you think the 'shop around' argument applies to some extent?
It does.
Because there are at least 14 players in this market.
We have actually become very apathetic switching and are not going
to dump all this in the consumer because that's not fair.
Utilities are incredibly complex.
If you get your bill, there's about seven acronyms that you have to fight your
way through to even uncover what you're paying and where you're paying.
It, too, is a consequence of the system of competition
and privatisation that is no ideological.
People are paying more.
As a consequence of that, we should not have privatised the electricity sector.
We should reverse the privatisation and then use control of the electricity sector
to drive reduction in energy usage and rapid transition to renewable energy.
That's not happening under the private market.
But in fact the European Commission has just trying to deal with the US
to have more fossil fuels to have LNG.
They're going in the wrong direction in response to this crisis.
Even if we do that, we decided as a country, and I'm ambivalent on the issue.
But if we decide as a country right, we're going to re regulate the
market, and I only have one supplier that's government owned.
You're still not going to do that by the end of next week,
when people actually need help with their bills.
This year, this summer, this winter and next winter and for the next five winters.
And I think we need to look at more immediate solutions that
are not inflationary because it's terribly difficult.
I'm not.
I'm not going to be kind of say Oh, it's dead simple.
Do this and this and it'll all fixed.
But pumping money into it, either by tax reductions or by straight helicopter
money in itself is going to cause an additional problem down the line