Latest news with #LynnBoylan
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Record numbers in arrears on energy bills as families ‘forced to prioritise buying groceries'
Figures obtained by Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan show 301,000 households were in arrears on their electricity bills in May. Ms Boylan said this was a record. Another 175,000 domestic gas customers are behind on their bills. Small firms are also struggling to keep up to date with their bills. A total of 27,400 small firms were in arrears on their electricity bills in May, according to the figures provided to Ms Boylan by Energy Minister Darragh O'Brien. Ms Boylan said food-price inflation meant families were being forced to prioritise buying groceries over paying their energy bills on time. The number in arrears on electricity bills was up 64,000 on the total for April, according to calculations based on figures from the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU). 'This is the highest number of households in arrears ever, at 301,379. The previous high was April 2025, at 300,653,' Ms Boylan said. The Government will pretend like this is all outside their control, but it's not Last week, Flogas announced a 7pc hike in its electricity prices from next month, with more suppliers expected to follow. SSE Airtricity has already announced price rises. The CRU said network charges for households would be going up, but it has also emerged they are going down for data centres. 'While families struggle, energy suppliers like Flogas continue to jack up energy prices while also raking in eye-watering profits,' Ms Boylan said. Flogas does not report profits directly, but its parent company, DCC plc, recorded profits of €714m in the year to March. ADVERTISEMENT 'The Government will pretend like this is all outside their control, but it's not,' Ms Boylan said, adding that the CRU was preparing to increase household network charges and cut them for data centres. It remains far too high for households She said t he Government could easily intervene to prevent that, as happened in 2009 with the Large Energy User Rebalancing Subvention. 'The same goes with the PSO [Public Service Obligation] Levy. It might be coming down slightly, but it remains far too high for households,' she said. Ms Boylan also said households were shouldering a disproportionate amount compared with data centres. Last week, Flogas said its electricity prices would go up by 7pc from August 25. Standing charges and unit rates will both rise. For a typical residential electricity customer, this will mean an increase of around €126 per year, or €10.51 a month. There is no change to its domestic gas prices. Flogas blamed its price hike on the decision by the CRU to increase network charges. The CRU increased network charges by €100 on the average annual bill this year, with much of the money raised from this to be used for investment in infrastructure. Daragh Cassidy, of price-comparison site said more suppliers will probably increase their prices. He said wholesale energy prices had decreased since the height of the energy crisis in 2022, but costs for the upkeep of the electricity grid kept rising.
Irish Post
22-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Post
Complaint over DAA advert upheld by the Standards Authority
THE DUBLIN Airport Authority (DAA) is facing criticism on two fronts following a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) and the disclosure of nearly €7 million spent on failed planning applications. The ASAI has found that a radio advertisement produced by DAA and voiced by broadcaster Marty Whelan breached advertising rules. The ad, which formed part of the airport's 'Lift Everyone' campaign, claimed that Dublin Airport was aiming to 'halve airport emissions by 2030.' The authority upheld a complaint from MEP Lynn Boylan, who argued that the ad misled listeners by not clarifying that the target excluded emissions from flights, which account for the majority of the airport's carbon footprint. Four other complainants, including the Children's Rights Over Flights campaign, raised similar concerns. Although the DAA's emissions reduction efforts apply only to sources under its direct control—such as its buildings, vehicle fleet, and ground operations—aircraft-related emissions, which make up approximately 90 percent of the airport's total emissions, were not part of the goal. Boylan argued that the average listener would likely interpret the phrase 'airport emissions' to include aircraft emissions. A survey she conducted supported this claim and contributed to the ASAI's reversal of its initial rejection of the complaint. DAA has accepted the ASAI's decision and said it had removed what it called a 'perceived ambiguity' from the ad. It defended the use of the term 'airport emissions' as standard within the industry and highlighted ongoing initiatives such as switching to electric vehicles and constructing a solar farm to generate 10 percent of the airport's electricity needs. Separately, DAA has confirmed that it has spent almost €7 million on planning and environmental consultancy services related to multiple development projects that failed to receive approval. The figure was disclosed following an intervention by the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information. The expenditure includes work on a proposal to raise Dublin Airport's passenger capacity to 36 million annually, which was rejected by Fingal County Council earlier this year. The council described the application as 'inadequate and misleading' and noted that DAA had not engaged in the available pre-planning process. Other rejected applications included plans for a 950-space staff car park and an aircraft observation platform. The council said the applications did not comply with several key requirements of the Planning and Development Regulations. DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs criticised the local authority's handling of the planning process, accusing it of 'flip-flopping.'
Irish Independent
14-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
‘Enough is enough' – households being forced to subsidise the costs of data centres, says Sinn Féin MEP
It comes after the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) decided to increase the electricity network charges for households, but reduce the charges for large users such as data centres. Dublin MEP Lynn Boylan accused the CRU of making households subsidise the costs of data centres. The Sinn Féin politician said this was 'incredible at a time when bills are crippling so many'. In a draft decision, the regulator is proposing an €18bn investment in the country's electricity system. This will mean network tariffs – part of the charges that make up customer bills – will rise to fund the revamp. Earlier this month, the CRU issued a press release saying the five-year investment plan should add between €6 and €16 to the average annual household bill. However, a deeper dive into the regulatory documents revealed that the investment plan could add €80 to an average annual domestic bill. This is a rise of 21pc in the network charges for households, taking annual network charges for consumers to €454 a year. Extra large energy users could see their network charges fall by between 3pc and 18pc up to 2030, under different scenarios the regulator has modelled. The €18bn investment is needed to pay for strengthening networks to cope with extreme events such as Storm Éowyn and allow for the connection of tens of thousands of new homes and businesses. ADVERTISEMENT Ms Boylan said that under the CRU's draft decision, households and SMEs will see their electricity network charges rise. At the same time, large energy users such as data centres will get reductions of up to 18pc. 'Regulatory documents reveal that grid upgrades are being driven in part by the growing electricity demands of data centres, whose usage has increased 400pc since 2015,' Ms Boylan said. 'In effect, the entities driving the increased need for grid investment are being asked to contribute less, while the general public pays more.' Now data centres are driving up the cost of electricity in a cost-of-living crisis She said this amounts to households being forced to subsidise the costs of data centres. 'The CRU will dress this up as a complicated technical decision, but at the end of the day this is a political choice to side with Big Tech's data centres over households,' she said. She said data centres were making it harder to build houses in a housing crisis, but were also making it harder to keep the lights on in an energy crisis. 'Now data centres are driving up the cost of electricity in a cost-of-living crisis. Enough is enough.' The CRU insisted large energy users will end up paying multiples more than residential electricity users in network charges. Data centres are just one part of the growing electricity demand and the CRU said it continues to introduce measures to manage their impact and ensure a balanced, secure energy supply for all users. It said the decrease in network charges for extra-large energy users is mostly attributed to the decline in costs from recent years associated with temporary increases in the transmission tariffs. These contributed to larger increases in the bills of large energy users over the last five years when compared to smaller customer groups. It said that between 2020 and this year, typical large energy users experienced a 167pc increase in network charges, compared with a 35pc increase for domestic customers.
Irish Independent
16-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Energy regulator ‘ignored' High Court ruling that could boost powers to restrict data centres
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan has now called on the regulator to publish its legal advice, as concerns mount over the expansion of the data centre sector. Ms Boylan sought documents under Freedom of Information (FOI) after the regulator, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), issued a proposal last February on the regulations that should apply to new data centres. Data centres currently use 22pc of all the country's electricity and multiple agencies and experts have warned that the electricity system cannot cope with their growing demand. The CRU proposed that new data centres could be permitted if they generated all the power they needed themselves. In theory, that could mean developing windfarms or solar parks, but because the proposal stated the generation plants must be on site, in reality they would be installing gas-fired generators. Such a move would drive up gas use and emissions, contrary to the Climate Action Plan and legally-binding emission-reduction targets. The CRU in its proposal said it had taken legal advice on potential measures such as requiring data centres to meet 'net zero' emissions standards. 'Following legal review, the CRU considers that the current provisions under the Climate Action Act do not provide a mandate to CRU to deliver a connections policy which requires explicit emissions reduction,' it said. However, just days before this was published, the High Court delivered a landmark ruling on the climate action responsibilities of state agencies and public bodies. It was made in relation to Coolglass Windfarm proposed for Co Laois, which An Bord Pleanála refused to grant planning permission for on the basis that it would contravene the Laois County Development Plan by being a visual intrusion on the landscape. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Justice Richard Humphreys said the grounds on which An Bord Pleanála based its decision were outweighed by the requirements of the Climate Act, specifically section 15 which deals with the responsibilities of public bodies to behave in accordance with the act. It was the first time the strength of section 15 was tested and has potentially massive implications for all public bodies. Yet the FOI documents show that a draft of the CRU proposal, drawn up before the highly publicised judgment, was the same as the decision made public after it. "The Coolglass ruling gave the CRU a clear legal footing to act decisively on data centres, yet the CRU's policy reads like business as usual, as if ruling never happened,' Ms Boylan said. "The claim that they lack the legal authority to act decisively on data centre emissions now rings hollow. The CRU must publish their legal advice.'
BreakingNews.ie
02-06-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Boylan accuses Government of 'cop out' on Occupied Territories and Israeli bonds bills
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan has accused the Government of a "cop out" on the Occupied Territories Bill and her party's Israeli bonds bill. TDs voted 87-75 against a motion brought by Sinn Féin to force the Irish Central Bank to end its role in facilitating the 'Israeli war bonds' in the EU on Wednesday. Advertisement While the Government is proceeding with the Occupied Territories Bill, some opposition politicians have criticised the fact that services will be excluded from it. In an interview with Ms Boylan said: "People are dying, almost 100 people are dying every single day, and children are starving to death and the Irish government has leverage which it is refusing to use. "I do appreciate the fact that Ireland recognised the state of Palestine and that was a very important step. It was good that they wrote and asked for a review of the EU Israel Association Agreement, but again that was February. So over a year ago, and now we're only seeing action on that, and it's not even being suspended. It's pending the review. We need to stop the killing. We need to stop the slaughter. "We need to stop the killing. We need to stop the slaughter. And that means using whatever leverage each member State has. You're not going to get a consensus at an EU level. That's very, very clear after 19 months. It's not going to happen. So take the unilateral measures. You're covered under international law to do that. And and that's where Israel will sit up and listen." Advertisement Sinn Féin's bill would have given the Finance Minister the power to stop the Irish Central Bank from facilitating the sale of Israeli government bonds across the EU. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe described it as "unworkable". Ms Boylan accused the Government of hiding behind the EU, and compared it to the State going against the EU in the Applex tax case. 'Cynical' "I also find it really cynical of the government to hide behind that as an excuse because we're regularly taken to court by the EU for not being compliant and there's no issue. We were taken to court over the Apple tax, we vigorously defended that. Advertisement "If the genocide happening was important enough for the Irish Government, I think the general public are saying 'well then take on the EU and wait and see if the EU will take this to court,' I don't believe they would because I don't believe the EU has a leg to stand on legally." The Occupied Territories Bill will ban imports originating from the Palestinian Territories that are illegaly occupied by Israel under international law, according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, the bill the Government are considering differs from the initial bill put forward by Senator Frances Black, as it will not ban trade in services with the Occupied Territories. "The ICJ Occupied Territories ruling has decided those territories are occupied illegally. Advertisement "On the ICJ ruling, every state should take measures to prevent the genocide from happening. That means not providing financial assistance in any way, including economic trade. So I would say to them put it up to the EU, use it as an excuse to take them on and go 'OK, well, we're not going to be the ones on the wrong side of history'. "I think the the watering down of the Occupied Territories Bill is to make sure that it is more or less a symbolic bill which is deeply disappointing. Seventy per cent of trade is in services. "The ICJ ruling was clear. It's economic trade, they made no distinction between trade and goods and trade and services so it is a cop out on the part of the Government. Not only have they delayed and stalled this bill, they've now made sure it's as ineffective as they possibly can. It has been described as symbolic." In a recent speech in the European Parliament, Ms Boylan made an apology to the people of Gaza for EU "inaction". Advertisement It went viral, and Ms Boylan said she was surprised by the huge response to her words. Lynn Boylan's recent 'apology' speech to Gaza went viral. "I've had messages from across the world and I've never had that on the back of speeches. But I don't mean just messages on social media, people actually taking the time to send you an e-mail or people who know me saying they passed it on to work colleagues. "The thing is that they wanted somebody to say that they're sorry because they're marching, they're doing everything and none of it seems to be having any impact. I think it's sort of tapped into the emotions that people are feeling, that feeling of comple helplessness and despair at what's happening. "It's not having the impact on our politicians. That is why I felt that frustration that I just may want to make an apology because the role I have as chair of of the European Parliament Delegation to Palestine, I'm meeting with Palestinian solidarity groups, I'm meeting with groups that are in Gaza on the ground and I've literally nothing positive to say to them anymore because everything we have tried has just been stonewalled. I was just overwhelmed by the reaction to it, to be honest. "It's just soul destroying, because what is the red line anymore? "The control or the influence that Israel has over the Western world, that they're just allowing international law to be shredded in front of our eyes and war crimes to be committed and to do nothing. You have to question the long-term impacts of this, both for the European Union, for democracy, for people, humanity, it is all being called into question because of what we're seeing."
