The electricity man always rings twice
There was an old film once called the Postman Always Rings Twice.
Well, Ivana Bacik thought it was a case of the electricman ringing twice in the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon last.
The Labour leader was in the middle of her stint during Leaders’ Questions when an unattended phone started ringing behind her.
It annoyed her, but her loyal comrade, Duncan Smith, slid across the benches to turn it off, so she got back into her stride, lashing Electric Ireland over their bizarre decision to slash tariffs for business customers, but to leave household customers hanging.
But then the phone rang again, very loudly too, and Ivana had to stop again, leading her to ask the Dáil was that Electric Ireland trying to get through to her to stop her talking.
The irony of course is that it’s nearly impossible to get through to a customer service rep with a utility company these days.
Most do literally leave you ‘hanging on the telephone’ as Blondie once sang, maybe Ms Bacik was a fan of the 80s pop icon.
The more serious point Ms Bacik was raising was that home customers of the electric companies are getting screwed.
The world’s energy companies are making megaprofits in recent years and it’s not just the BPs and Exxon Mobils of the world, Irish firms are cleaning up too.
Recent profits disclosed by Electric Ireland last September revealed that the company had trebled their profits on the year before, clocking €390million for just six months.
And three must be a magical number for energy companies because only last month the annual profits of a UK company called Centrica reported profits of £3.3billion.
Centrica is the parent company of Bord Gáis, even though the Irish arm claimed they made a loss on the domestic division.
It doesn’t matter, overall the pockets are still bulging with cash at Centrica.
And what was happening to consumer prices while these profits started to soar, you guessed it, prices rocketed.
Now, obviously the war in Ukraine has been the main driver in sending international oil and gas prices up by as much as 300% and 600% respectively at times last year.
But it’s the end user, that’s me and you, that’s paying the price.
Just look at the profits they are making to prove this.
And then compare this to the plight of poor pensioners highlighted by Sinn Féin’s Johnny Guirke in the Dáil last Wednesday.
Mr Guirke held up two bills sent to him by constituents of his to highlight the desperate circumstances some are finding themselves in.
First was Gerry, whose bill had gone up almost threefold, from €600 to €1,600.
Then there was the shocking bill from a woman aged over 100, Kitty, that she was gobsmacked to receive last month.
It was for 59 days, basically December and January, and it showed an alarming leap from €133 to €957.
Poor Kitty is not throwing parties or anything at her age, but she obviously had to jack up the light and heat during the darkest and coldest of the winter months and she got pinished for it.
The Government was giving energy credits of €200 per household every two months since the Budget in October, but they are being cut off now after this month.
They were costing the Government €400million a pop, but sure guess who got that money, yes, the energy companies again through the punter when he paid his rocketing bills.
Howth fishing pier’s new fishing pier
Official choices for the names of new roads, bridges etc. has always been interesting.
But sometimes the mind boggles as to why they choose the most inane and boring names.
Well, this week we saw it reach new heights when the imaginative minds of the Department of Agriculture boasted about how they had bashed their heads together to come up with a new name for the revamped fishing pier in the posh Dublin fishing village of Howth
There have been many famous names that have walked that pier through the years, local resident Gay Byrne living on the hill in Sutton was a regular down the village in his day.
But no, they didn’t name it after the legendary broadcaster, or after Booker prize winning author, John Banville, another well known local.
No, they really, ahem, pushed the boat out with this one and went with the imaginative, the inspiring, the evocative…. ‘The Fishing Pier.’
It even warranted a press release from Minister Charlie McConologue’s Department on Thursday, proclaiming: “McConalogue officially names the new Fishing Pier’ at Howth Fishery Harbour Centre.”
And of course, it has its own plaque too if you need to be reminded what you’re standing on.
Darragh O’Brien and Jimmy Carter
It’s only a week away, the annual jamboree for ministers as they pack their bags and head off on the ultimate junkets when they are Pampered Paddies abroad for St Patrick’s Day.
It’s got to be one of the best perks of the job, if you get a good gig.
If you’ve been really good all year, you could get to go somewhere really fancy, anyone for China, Hong Kong and Singapore for a week?
Step right up Eamon Ryan, you’ve been top of the class and deserve eight days in the Far East, it would be rude to go all that way for any less.
Another man who you could say has a nice March getaway is housing minister, Darragh O’Brien, who’s rarely out of the news with hsistough brief.
Darragh is getting a nice few days in the Deep South, representing the rest of us at the Paddy’s Day shindigs in Georgia.
One of the US State’s most famous residents is US President Jimmy Carter, whose brilliant humanitarian work around the world since leaving the role of President in 1981 has ensured his legacy will be a lasting one.
But unfortunately, the 98 year old President Carter is not well, he has been moved to palliative care in a hospice.
It means that Darragh O’Brien, a huge fan of US politics, is unlikely to meet one of his heroes.
But if the great man passes away, Minister O’Brien would be on hand to officiate for the Irish Government.
Quote of the Week
“It never answers its phones and we are hearing about that from lots of people who cannot get through to Electric Ireland so it is supremely ironic to have a phone call cutting across a critique of Electric Ireland.” Labour leader Ivana Bacik convinced Electric Ireland are ringing to throw her off her stride when a phone keeps rining in the Dáil.
