Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Action and the Environment, Darren O’Rourke TD, has criticised the government for failing to get to grips with the chaos in Ireland’s energy markets, whereby Irish energy costs far outstrip the European average and are frequently some of the most expensive in the EU.

Commenting on news that energy provider SSE Airtricity is set to cut its charges for standard household electricity and gas by 10%, the Meath East TD said:

“While these price cuts are welcome, the reality is they go nowhere near far enough to provide the relief ordinary workers, families and small businesses desperately need.

“Prices here remain a staggering 70% higher for electricity and 80% higher for gas than they were before the energy crisis hit. This means households will still pay around €1000 a year more for gas and electricity than they did just a few years ago. High energy bills will continue to be a key component in Ireland’s enduring cost-of-living crisis.

“This is confirmed by this week’s Barnardos report which claims that 70% of families worry about not being able to provide daily essentials and more alarmingly, 47% of families have already had to cut back. Energy prices are a key component of this.

“The government has argued that this is inevitable, that Ireland’s stubbornly high energy costs are due to external factors that they have little to no control over.

“However, in Sinn Féin, we know that this is not the case.

“We know that wholesale energy prices have fallen by approximately 77% since their peak in August 2022 yet retail prices have not fallen anywhere near a comparable amount. In contrast, energy prices in other states have not only fallen faster but have fallen further, and from a lower base rate.

“The reason Ireland is an outlier in this context, we are told, is because of Irish energy companies’ so-called ‘hedging strategies.’ Yet the government has absolutely zero oversight of this. Instead, we are just supposed to take energy companies on their word that they can’t reduce their prices further all the while they continue to make exorbitant profits.

“Sinn Féin would change this.

“The government’s ‘once-off’, sticking-plaster measures are not good enough. We need a seismic shift towards real, sustainable change for good.

“Sinn Féin has introduced a five-point plan to take control and bring the much needed relief for ordinary workers, houses and businesses.

“First and foremost, we would work to fundamentally reorganise the electricity market. Sinn Féin would implement changes to uplift families rather than the corporate balance sheet.

“Secondly, we would reform the mandate and increase the power and resources of the regulator in order to hold energy companies to account. Sinn Féin wants to rein in the chaos in the energy market rather than letting energy companies run roughshod over consumers.

“Thirdly, we would radically overhaul the government’s retrofitting programme. We propose a tiered plan targeting those most in need, including an increase in the budget for local authority homes and the establishment of a standalone fund for solid fuel homes.

“Finally, Sinn Féin’s plan also incorporates measures to increase the accessibility of the green transition by increasing domestic, community and public ownership of renewables, as well as proposals to tackle energy poverty including the prioritisation of bottom-up approaches.

“Fundamentally, we want to drive down prices through supply side investment and the targeting of wealth and luxury emissions rather than placing additional burdens on ordinary people through punitive measures that disproportionately hurt the poorest first.

“The challenges faced by households underscore the need for urgent reform of the energy system. The government parties have been asleep at the wheel for far too long. Sinn Féin’s proposals offer an alternative path forward, through market restructuring, standing up to big business and translating our natural resources into national wealth for all as part of a just transition.

“With these proposals, we can take decisive action to alleviate the financial strain on households and ensure a more equitable and sustainable energy future for all.”