Taoiseach: ESB profits will be used to bring down people's bills
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The Taoiseach said on Friday that the Government would use its dividend from soaring profits at ESB to help people struggling with soaring energy bills.
Micheál Martin told reporters in Co Clare: “The Government is the shareholder on behalf of the Irish people, so we have the capacity through the dividend that we receive that we can recover that. Obviously, given the scale of the profits on the back of the energy crisis, I think Government can look forward to a much higher dividend than would have been the case prior to the (energy) crisis.”
The Government will use this dividend “to underpin its efforts to reduce pressures on households”, he added.
“That’s what we are going to do in the cost-of-living package next week and in the budget — protect households as best we can with the funding we have, and also protect jobs.
"We will do that with the ESB profits, but also through the windfall measures that will be taken at a European level but that will apply to Ireland, and we’ll also get some revenues back.
“We have a surplus going into the end of the year that will provide for us certainly in the medium-term, to enable us to help people who need help because of rising electricity bills, rising energy costs, and general inflation that has been part of the economy because of the war on Ukraine and the huge problems on the European continent in terms of gas supplies which were brought about by the war.”
Consumers, small to medium businesses and larger enterprises will all benefit from the “mechanisms and measures” the Government is planning to reveal in Budget 2023 which Mr Martin said “help people but that, doesn’t exacerbate inflation, but also targets it at families in need”.
“We have energy credits to cover the general population. Where the Government is heading is through measures and mechanisms, through energy credits, tax, through the public service pay agreement, through cutting costs in terms of public services, and then through social welfare, to reduce costs overall and to give people supports to weather the extraordinary bills that they currently have.”
Mr Martin said the Government is also “looking at measures to ease pressures on the enterprise sector“ to protect jobs.
Asked by a journalist if he felt “embarrassed” to be Taoiseach when protests marches were being planned this weekend over the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Martin said it was every Irish citizen’s “fundamental right” to protest. However, he said the energy crisis was “brought about by a war on Ukraine — not by the Irish Government or any domestic policy”.
“It was fundamentality brought about by a terrible war on Ukraine and Putin-weaponised energy, and that is why we have extraordinary increases in energy prices, the likes of which we have never seen, but it’s not the fault of this government.”
When further pressed by reporters that people were struggling with the outs of living prior to the outbreak. of the war last February, the Taoiseach replied: “There is no question the war has driven prices, there is no question and I think we need to have perspective and an informed debate. Of course people want the Government to respond to the crisis and what I am saying is that we will respond to the crisis.”
Mr Martin warned that energy prices “are going to go higher again into the final quarter 2022 and first quarter of 2023” but that thee government would again respond to help people facing historic high bills.
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said electricity rates are linked to the price of gas which is "something we need to change".
"That made sense in the past, it doesn't make sense anymore, that's going to change at European level and will help to bring down electricity bills."
He said it is "right and proper" that the Government take back some of the "big profits" that energy companies are currently making.
"When it comes to the ESB we can do that in one of two ways, by a windfall tax or taking a bigger dividend from the company. We would use that money then to bring down costs for families and businesses.