People living alone are getting €900 energy bills, says Laois-Offaly TD

A Sinn Féin TD in Laois-Offaly said he's aware of two people in the constituency who are living alone and have recently received energy bills of more than €900.

"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," stated Deputy Brian Stanley, who said he had copies of both of the bills in question.

The TD accused the Government of not doing enough to address high energy bills and electricity shortages.

"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 are more than double what they were just two years ago.

"Energy companies are making supernormal profits on the back of the war in Ukraine, some of it as an excuse, and ordinary people are paying for it," he added.

"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.

"Spain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and many other have introduced retrospective and future windfall tax on the superprofits. This would discourage 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.

"Last summer, Sinn Féin called for a windfall tax. Since then, I do not know what the Government is waiting for. It is also wrong that Electric Ireland is reducing prices by 10% to 15% for businesses while householders are being left in the cold," he said.

"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.

"Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, Fine Gael and the Labour Party have failed spectacularly to manage our energy system for decades. We have been brought to the brink of blackouts, yet we have some of the highest energy bills in Europe. We used to have one of the lowest, by the way, when it was run by the ESB alone.

"The Government's solution is now to purchase diesel-burning generators to meet increased demand, at a cost in excess of €300 million which could go well beyond that. You could not make this up. It highlights the chaotic approach of the Government," he argued, saying there was a need for a long-term strategy for solving the crisis.