Laois mum lumped with a power bill for almost €1,000
A young mother living in a Laois apartment is struggling to pay an electricity bill of almost €1,000 while a pensioner lumped with a bill for more than €900 in the county is in a similar bind.
The women's cases have been taken up by Laois Offaly TD Brian Stanley who wants the Government to act.
"The Government must take greater measures to control and manage our energy needs. Households continue to receive sky-high energy bills, with electricity and gas bills more than double what they were just two years ago," he said.
He outlined the detail of the bills faced by the two women even allowing for the energy credit. Deputy Stanley said that this has been gobbled up.
"One pensioner in my constituency, who lives alone, received a bill of €915.48, while a single mother on maternity leave, living on her own in a small flat, got a bill for €978.57. I have copies of the bills for the Minister from those two people,’’ said the Sinn Féin TD.
Dep Stanley said energy companies are making supernormal profits on the back of the war in Ukraine.
"Ordinary people are paying for it. The Government has sat on its hands while families and workers are literally robbed. I want to know why this Government has not introduced an energy windfall tax on company profits. The Government has been talking about this for long enough," he said.
The TD said other EU countries have introduced retrospective and future windfall tax on the superprofits that discourages companies from increasing prices and would pay for further energy credits.
"The €200 credit people got is welcome but is gobbled up. Without a windfall tax, companies are simply upping their profits. Government are simply throwing money at companies and subsidising those profits," he said.
Dep Stanley it is also wrong that Electric Ireland is reducing prices by 10% to 15% for businesses while householders are being left in the cold.
"Energy companies are choosing not to pass on the 40% reduction in wholesale electricity prices. What justification is there for allowing these companies to charge skyrocketing prices for wind- and solar-generated power? That is the question the Green Party needs to answer. The wind and sun do not cost any more now than they did two years ago," he said
The TD said Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, Fine Gael and the Labour Party have failed spectacularly to manage the energy system for decades and the country is now on the brink of blackouts.