Climate Minister Eamon Ryan has warned that energy bills and prices will not fall significantly for the next year or two.
Householders have been hit with sky high bills in recent months, with numerous energy and gas suppliers hiking their bills multiple times.
Companies have said that they have been forced to put up their prices due to the war in Ukraine. However, multiple companies have also recorded record profits.
Speaking at the launch of the new Energy Poverty Action Plan, Minister Ryan said that while wholesale prices had fallen slightly, they have started to increase again in recent weeks.
“A lot of this is complicated because a lot of companies bought forward or would have hedged against some of the prices.
“My expectation, unfortunately for the next year, two years, is we're not going to see a significant reduction in interest in prices.
“I think that's the expectation across Europe across the International Energy Agency. It's due to international factors, non-domestic factors. If that changes, and the war [in Ukraine] comes to an end, you might see some differences. The possibility of that at this moment is very low.”
Minister Ryan later said that it is unclear if this will lead to even higher bills for customers, as “each energy supplier has a different circumstance.”
He continued: “You cannot be certain what any one energy company would do. But my expectation is the majority of the past higher gas prices has already been put into the bills. “Depending on what happens in the gas markets, I don't expect we'll see these sorts of increases we saw in the last six months.”
As part of the Energy Poverty Action Plan, a new €10m fund will be put in place to help those struggling with bills. It will mostly apply to those on “pay as you go” systems.
People must contact their suppliers and they will then be given a voucher to put into their meters.
There are currently around 200,000 people in arrears on their energy bills. Minister Ryan said how much each person will receive will depend on personal circumstances, as well as on demand.
This fund will “bolster” other supports already put in place by other companies, Minister Ryan said.
He also insisted that he is satisfied with the supports being put in place by electricity companies who are
People have also been told to contact the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), St Vincent de Paul or Alone, who provide financial advice and can advocate on their behalf to suppliers.
Minister Ryan also received Cabinet permission to extend the definition of ‘vulnerable customers’ to include people who are financially vulnerable, to ensure they can avail of additional consumer protections.
This will include those in receipt of Fuel Allowance, Job Seekers Allowance for over six months, Working Family Payment, One-Parent Family Payment, Domiciliary Care Allowance or Carers Allowance.
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