Eamon Ryan has warned the energy crisis may last for another two years.
The Energy Minister was speaking from Brussels where he was meeting colleagues to discuss a pan-European response to the issue. The emergency session formally decided that there will be a windfall tax imposed on energy companies’ profits.
EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has already said that this could raise as much as €140billion. If Ireland receives a pro-rata portion based on our population it would yield €2.8billion.
However, others want the breakdown of the windfall to come from where the fuel is produced. Mr Ryan said we could get “between €1billion and €2billion” but the meeting of EU energy ministers did not decide that at their meeting.
It is likely that this major decision will be sent up the line to the EU states’ leaders. In another move the ministers decided there will be a mandatory 5% reduction in energy use between the energy “rush hours” of 5pm to 7pm.
This could be facilitated by charging extra to consumers during these peak hours. Mr Ryan said: “I have always advocated that we need to work with Europe to get the best deal for Irish householders and businesses.
“We’ve realised this is going to be a two-year challenge, not a one-year one. This agreement is a show of unity across the European Union that collectively we want to drive energy prices down for people.
“It is also a signal to companies that they cannot continue to make excessive profits because energy is being used as a weapon of war in Europe. This deal will ensure that we can take some of those excess revenues and recycle them to hard-pressed consumers, in addition to the significant funding we have already been able to provide in Budget 2023.”
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