COMMENT: Rising energy and fuel costs is now a hot political potato
A SHORT, albeit very important, debate took place at the November meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District in respect of the increased regularity of power outages in and around the town, a situation not unique to the county town.
Councillor Michael Kilcoyne, who raised the issue, said while it was causing inconvenience for all citizens, he was particularly concerned with the impact on elderly and vulnerable people.
So much so that he requested the council install emergency lighting in the homes of all of its elderly and vulnerable tenants.
Developing the debate, Councillor Ger Deere called for a meeting with the ESB locally to establish the reasons why the number of outages had escalated and if the problem could be addressed.
On the same day, in Dáil Éireann, Cork Independent TD Michael Collins was criticising the government for failing utterly to guarantee the security of electricity supply after industry, business and householders were recently informed they face real-time risks of electricity outages during morning and evening peaks.
Deputy Collins also made the valid point that while coming to terms with outages, many householders are also unable to find extra room in their budgets for escalating energy costs.
For those at risk of disconnection or those on prepayment meters who cannot afford to top up, this could mean being unable to afford to stay warm and keep the lights on.
The fact household energy costs are rising at a rapid rate is arguably of greater concern to the public than the frequency of outages.
Deputy Collins cited research commissioned by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at the beginning of the year which reported that worrying numbers of people are cutting back on heating or electricity due to costs.
The increase in energy prices is also having a significant and immediate impact on the agriculture, fishing, transport and mobility sectors, resulting in spiralling costs for farmers, drivers, passengers, bus owners, lorry owners and freight transport users.
In the long term, according to Deputy Collins, this will lead to the destruction of Ireland, especially rural Ireland.
Data from the website pumps.ie, which keeps a close eye on forecourt prices across the country, revealed that in March 2021, petrol was €1.33 per litre and diesel €1.24.
By November 7, the price of petrol had risen to €1.72 per litre and diesel to €1.62 - an average increase of 30 per cent.
Excise duty, including carbon tax, accounts for over 60 cents of the price of every litre of petrol and over 50 cents of the price of every litre of diesel.
On top of that, VAT makes up 12% of the price of petrol and 9% of the price of diesel.
These figures suggest the government has plenty of wiggle room in terms of easing the astonishing rise in fuel costs.
Sad to report, however, it is unlikely to do so, as the defeat of Deputy’s Collins’ Dáil motion for such tax and VAT cuts testified.
But the issue is destined to become an even hotter political potato in the months ahead as Sinn Féin, now with a 37% popularity rating, seek to capitalise on its now seemingly unstoppable surge to winning the next general election.