Anger Is An Energy Crisis

Nikola Tesla amps it up

atest press release from Jennifer Whitmore TD, issued on Wednesday, September 7th 2022…

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore attended the party’s annual Think-In this week, where the Party’s priorities were outlined for the coming year.

The Think-In focused on the main issues impacting families and small businesses at the present. Co-Leaders Deputies Shorthall and Murphy highlighted their priorities to address the three crisis facing people in Ireland including housing, cost of living and rising energy prices.

The Party Spokesperson for Energy, Deputy Jennifer Whitmore also spoke at the Think-In saying “part of the Social Democrats’ proposals include the need for a €15 increase in Fuel Allowance extended to include the Working Family Payment and a Covid-style payment support scheme – Energy Crisis Support Scheme (ECSS) – for businesses and employees to help alleviate the impact of the energy crisis. Our proposal will focus on graduating supports from low to middle-income households to ensure those most vulnerable are targeted in the scheme.

“These are proactive policies urgently needed to address the risk of rising fuel poverty and the huge impact the energy crisis will have on ordinary working families. It’s clear the energy market is broken and there needs to be a very significant and deep intervention by government, to protect families and businesses and jobs.

“We’re talking about getting money to people and businesses as quickly as possible. In constituencies like Wicklow, many people are already struggling to overcome rising energy costs. Their struggle will only worsen if the government’s response continues without proper, targeted supports. Our proposals intend to do just that and we are calling on government to use these mechanisms in their upcoming Budget to prepare people better for the winter ahead. They are well researched and we met with many experts in the area at our Think-In including Dr. Paul Deane from MaREI Institute, UCC.

“This is not a crisis unforeseen. The government has known this was coming down the line for quite some time. In fact, I raised it back in September 2021 yet nothing was done to address it before it became a crisis. Now we are in a situation where the government has narrowed our options to help people face unsustainable utility costs. For example, there has been a lack of Government support for the installation of solar panels and a two and a half year wait for people to get access to retrofitting.

“Government must employ a similar response to the pandemic, when emergency support schemes were established for businesses and workers.

“The upcoming Budget will be an opportunity for the government to show some real progress in how the State responds to the various crisis facing people, not least the energy crisis,” concludes Whitmore.