People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin
The party’s Assembly election candidate was speaking ahead of a deputation by Firmus Energy official’s at today’s Council Governance and Strategic Planning meeting.
Said Cllr Harkin: “Firmus Energy bosses claim there’s nothing they can do about hikes in the cost of gas provision over the last year. We disagree.
“Firmus Energy’s tax haven based parent owners have made massive payouts to shareholders in recent years.
“At today’s Council meeting we will be calling on Firmus to make a number of commitments to ease the cost of living crisis that’s throwing so many into hardship.
“It’s immoral for major energy companies to be making profits when so many are struggling. Firmus should commit to not making any profits so they can immediately reduce their prices.
“Firmus should transfer all the profits they’ve made over the last year from households in the Derry and Strabane District into the Council-led hardship fund.
“There’s no justification for payouts to shareholders during a hardship emergency.
“If it’s confirmed people in Derry are being charged more than elsewhere by Firmus – the company should commit to ending this practice and paying back all over the odds charges.
“Firmus should commit to contributing to a Stormont-led Hardship Emergency Fund.
“Firmus must give an ironclad commitment to ensuring no one will have their gas turned off as a result of non-payment during this hardship emergency.
“People Before Profit are for bold and radical action to reduce the burden on workers and the least well-off during this crisis.
“This includes windfall taxes on all major energy corporations and government imposed price caps.
“The energy sector should be renationalised and brought under public control.
“The Stormont Executive spent years cheerleading for energy privatisation to facilitate profiteering by elites.
“We are now seeing how disastrous this economic strategy has been for the vast majority of people.”
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