Mattie McGrath decries government's 'shambolic' energy response
Mattie McGrath criticised the government's handling of the energy crisis, saying emergency legislation is a bland excuse and describing the overall response as shambolic. He attacked delays on licences, warned of price gouging, and called for measures such as decoupling wind prices and windfall taxes while raising transport safety concerns.
Main criticism
McGrath said the government declared an "emergency" but introduced emergency legislation with minimal scrutiny. He complained the bill first surfaced at a Business Committee meeting last Thursday, leaving inadequate time for debate and amendments and likened the approach to a massive guillotine on parliamentary scrutiny.
Emergency legislation and precedents
He contrasted the current emergency measures with the state's COVID-era response, saying the government is attempting to slip broad powers under the radar. McGrath described the move as an experiment in emergency legislation that was previously abused and warned against repeating that pattern.
Transport and safety concerns
He accused the minister of transport of failing to prevent reckless drone flights over Dublin airport that could "bring down a plane with 300 people on it, or 500 people on it." McGrath used this example to question priorities and competence in the government's handling of urgent safety issues.
Energy policy and licensing
McGrath urged decisive action on energy supply, including not closing power stations in the Midlands and stopping gas exploration where appropriate. He said licences remain on the minister's desk without response, that companies are not being afforded basic courtesies, and that warnings to the "air grid" about looming problems were made years ago.
Economic measures and fairness
He criticised the absence of windfall taxes and said the state has not used tools available to decouple wind prices. While some industry companies offered a 10% reduction for businesses, McGrath said there was little support for households and those struggling to pay bills amid alleged price gouging.
Wider context and protests
McGrath referenced a Stormont visit and meetings with Deputy Howell and others on the energy crisis, noting no windfall tax measures there either. He also attacked plans for a pipeline as willful waste, claiming projects would cause massive damage and describing extreme proposals such as filling a pipeline with concrete to render it unusable.
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Gourmáir Guth, sin eise, aaghtin i Geelige, a caoan coole aaghti, ian aemid ar iíthaelkund an Geelige, aar dyrthgund cín, but, this is the gourmáiríltas of the Tric Had Trig, I call it minister, Feinna Fáil, Feinna Gael, and, em, your good selves, and I mean, we're talking now about, about, em, em, energy, energy, energy, regeneration, here we are, about 18 months into where we have said here, our group, that this was a crisis and crisis was upon us and going to come. Then the war arrived in the 18th century and he tried to blame everything on the war. But thankfully the whole set price is now lower than before the war. So you're caught napping. Anyway, if the Cheek didn't introduce emergency legislation, 15 months, I said, 18 months into the crisis, and the Cheek called it emergency legislation, it's just a bland excuse because you had an experiment during COVID with an emergency legislation that she got away with blue murder with. Black, blue, holy murder with. You got away with it. And you think you can slip it all under this radar now. The first I heard of this on behalf of my group was last Thursday morning, Count Colna, at the Business Committee meeting. When it's inside the side of the bill, no pre-legalistive scrutiny, no time as I objected to today, no time really to debate it, six hours for full and final, the second stage and all the other stages to final, and no room for them and deputy, not to let the parents get an amendment, but they're bloody in time to submit amendments. So this is the kind of way you're in government now, that you deal with people, the massive guillotine. Minister Ryan, he's like a wonder man. He can walk Americans. He can stop every man and woman and crater in the country from burning a tough fire. And yet he can't stop a drone from being flown over Dublin airport that's reckless, could bring down a plane with 300 people on it, or 500 people on it. What kind of comfoolery is that? I mean, and he's the Minister of Transport, and we have no emergency legislation to do that. We have this as a emergency, tell us, but we know it's not an emergency. I'm all for keeping the lights on. We've been warning here, but Brown and Black, and we spoke to the air grid three years ago, and he told us this was nigh. What do you do? Stop, close down the power stations in the Midlands. Stop the gas exploration. Stop everything that you can. There's licenses that high, sitting on the Minister's desk, that he won't even respond to. He tells us he ended all day, and as he told me last week, that his licenses are still being issued. He won't even respond to the mail. You have to expect to answer decent companies that make an application to renew their licenses that was in part of the deed, all the effort was extended, and he won't even allow to do it. He won't even give him the courtesy of doing that. So, Minister, this is shambolic, and it's the public out there, I think entirely, because the public are paying the price, the price gouging. You have to be kicking and screaming to use the toolbox that the EU gave us. We decouple the price of the wind there, and you can talk a lot of wind in here, and hot air, but the wind and a few balloons that take off, they're in here, and you could, he was told that you could do it. You still haven't done it. You had many other countries that have brought in windfall taxes, and you have brought in none. And the last speaker has gone out, there's someone here, but I was in Stormont yesterday, and Deputy Howell, and our delegation from our committee, and we met different people dealing with the energy crisis, and there's no windfall tax either up there, and there's no supports either up there. And Sinn Féin, I was supposed to be the first minister that they haven't done it sitting, and the door is doomed, and I walked up to it, and it's locked, and it's not a lane, it's a thing, so I don't know what's going on up there. I was going to suggest that I won't suggest here now, because they're making a mockery of it, but I'll keep it doing bail for once, Count Cawler. But you're codding the people, you want the bills that people are getting. Then we have some industry companies giving a 10% reduction to businesses, and nothing for the half-pressed, unfortunately, misfortunate people that live out there, that try to pay their taxes, and live, and put food on the table, and they're being priced out of existence. You talk about congestion taxes then, and you think you're going to throw us 30 cars in a village, or 10 cars in the village, I think there's 300 people then. There won't be any congestion in that village anyway, Minister Reign gets his way, and I would be all on the rocker, and she's on the rocker, freewheeling down the road. Well, there were three loaders here, in the Green Party, that were in government, and I was privileged, or not privileged, to be in, when I was 7 to 11, and I saw what the havoc they'd done. But the havoc they'd done that type is nothing to the havoc they're doing now. And you allow a pipeline to go across the country, from the tip of the door, and choose Goody and Bollywood, and Clea, that would cause massive damage, a project that is willful waste. He was going to say, something else that I was signing in order, I don't know what happened or not, to send down, glory loads of ready-mix, down to Bally Row, to block a perfectly good pipeline that height, fill it up with mass concrete, that it couldn't be used again. The fellas in the white coat should come in here, and back in the wagons into the front gate, bringing away some of the people here that are implementing, and dreaming of these policies, and introducing them as crazy stuff. To my own cotter, go back to Cuncola. Thank you. Thank you. You
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