Pa Daly
Ceist:204. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the revenue that would have been earned if the market revenue cap (details supplied) had remained in place, by year. [31604/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 12 June 2025
Ceisteanna (204, 210)
Pa Daly
Ceist:210. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to provide a breakdown of the revenue that was not collected under the market revenue cap (details supplied) because it could be demonstrated that it was being used to impact prices charged for electricity; and the proportion of the eligible revenue that was not collected as it could be demonstrated that it was being used to prices charged for electricity. [31620/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 204 and 210 together.
The Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Cap on Market Revenues) Act 2023 was enacted in November 2023 and was commenced on 4 December 2023. This Act implemented a cap on market revenues of licensed producers of electricity with a capacity greater than one megawatt, authorised intermediaries of such producers and persons authorised to sell electricity on behalf of producers, as required in Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 of 6 October 2022 on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices.
The Act provides for the collection agent to establish, administer, and maintain a fund to be known as the Market Cap Fund, into which the proceeds from the cap on market revenues will be retained. Under the Act, the proceeds from the cap on market revenues have been retained by EirGrid on behalf of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) and are to be used to support final electricity consumers in measures in line with Article 10 of the Regulation.
Section 13 of the Act provides that if it could be demonstrated that the adjusted surplus revenue of an entity subject to the market cap had already been passed directly to final consumers, that portion of the revenue would not need to be paid to the collection agent.
The Act designates the CRU as the competent authority. As such, my Department does not have a role in reviewing returns issued by the impacted entities and I am not in a position to say how much revenue was not collected under section 13 or to provide a breakdown thereof.
Regarding the Deputy’s query on the revenue that would be raised if the market cap had remained in place, I note that the Act was designed to avoid creating negative investment signals or a country-specific risk. Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 calls for “exceptional, targeted and time-limited measures” to mitigate high energy prices. Accordingly, the Act applied for the period beginning on 1 December 2022 and ending on 30 June 2023. There are no plans to renew this temporary measure and as such, the revenue raised by a more permanent cap on market revenues has not been modelled.