Some short-term relief but not yet the energy revolution we need

My Budget 2023 analysis for today's Irish Daily Star

This Budget offers people some short term relief from skyrocketing fossil fuel prices but it doesn’t go far enough or fast enough to get us off fossil fuels for good.

The expansion of the fuel allowance and the €400 lump sum are welcome but why are people on Working Family Payment excluded and why is there no increase in the basic weekly rate? And of course, while the Fuel Allowance is an essential sticking plaster the real solution is more insulation and retrofitting so people have warmer homes and lower bills with less pollution.

The extra money for retrofitting next year is welcome but the target of 37,000 houses is far too low. This is an emergency. We should be insulating 100,000 houses before next winter. And the Government should be sitting down with the likes of the St Vincent de Paul and Age Action to make sure we reach those most in need. A first-come, first-served SEAI grant scheme isn’t good enough.

The continuation of the 20% reductions in public transport fares for 2023 is positive but it should be permanent. It can be a game-changer. More money for school transport is welcome, but we need a guaranteed school bus place for every child who lives more than 3km from school, not this September’s shambles.

The €360 million a year for cycling and walking infrastructure is good but local authorities have been failing to spend it. We need central government action to drive this transformation. Let’s start with safe cycling and walking routes to all schools by next September.

One straightforwardly good move is the money to put solar panels on the roofs of every school in Ireland. Friends of the Earth has been campaigning on this for years. It will cut school energy bills, they can sell the electricity they don’t use to the grid and it will involve communities up and down the country in the positive energy revolution we need.

What is driving both the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis is our fossil fuel addiction. The answer to both of these challenges is the same, government action to get us off dirty, pricey fossil fuels as fast as possible. That way we all save money, break our dependence on dictators and cut pollution. The next chance for the Government to show they’re serious about this challenge is their new Climate Action Plan 2023, due in early November.