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The Government must reduce energy prices and bring down the sky-high cost of household bills, a TD has warned.
Sinn Fein’s Pa Daly insisted Irish householders were still paying too much for gas and electricity and that he now feared that a proposed new levy would hike prices even further.
He grilled Environment Minister Darragh O’Brien on the issue in the Dail this week and called on him to rule out any new levies.
It comes as senior Cabinet ministers have already hinted that there will be no energy credits this winter to offset costly bills.
Deputy Daly said: “Irish households are crippled by the most expensive electricity prices in Europe. Average electricity costs here are almost €1,800 per year, €350 more than the European average.
“The Government parties all promised they would introduce measures to help with the cost-of-living crisis when they were campaigning last November.
“Despite this, energy prices are 61% higher than they were in 2022. The Government has ruled out energy credits this year, saying they cannot become the norm. People are struggling, yet as part of the energy security review, the Government has suggested another levy, which would push up bills even further.”
However Mr O’Brien insisted his Government was looking at ways to reduce household energy bills.
He said: “The programme for Government acknowledges the growing energy price and cost pressures on households and businesses and commits to bringing forward measures to contain these costs.
“The Government recently approved an extension of the 9% VAT rate currently applied to gas and electricity by a further six months to October 2025.
“That will cost an estimated €85million and it will be looked at again in the context of the budget.
“My department has established a cross-government energy affordability task force to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses.
“The focus of the task force will be on medium and long-term structural reform measures to address high energy costs in line with the EU action plan for affordable energy.”
But Deputy Daly stated that this wasn’t going far enough.
He added: “There is an awful lot the minister can do to bring down household electricity prices. The additional costs on household bills make up around 50% of the final electricity price to consumers.
“The programme for Government omitted any mention of network charges. It gave a vague commitment to explore funding models for the PSO to reduce bills. Is the minister going to do that?”
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