A Clare Senator insists there will have to be significant interventions in the budget to assist people through the difficult period ahead.
It follows an Oireachtas Energy Committee meeting, during which Eirgrid warned there’s a “heightened risk” to Ireland’s energy supplies this winter.
The Environment Minister has warned that more price hikes in energy bills are ‘unavoidable’.
It comes amid mounting fears of power outages in winter, with supplies in Europe limited, bringing a heightened risk of blackouts here.
Clare’s Green Senator doesn’t believe blackouts are an inevitability though.
Senator Roisin Garvey says no-one could have foreseen the situation caused by the war in Ukraine and has criticised Eirgrid and the CRU for not being better prepared.
The Inagh representative says we’re in a vulnerable position and people will “pay dearly”, but she believes there’s now an onus on everyone to play their part in reducing demand.
A Clare Senator insists the Government will have to assist people through the difficult period over the coming year or two.
Mountshannon Senator Timmy Dooley, who’s a member of the committee, says the message to Government has to be to push ahead with the development of offshore wind and hydrogen, which would be of paticular benefit to Clare.
But Senator Dooley says the gap between now and then will be tough.
Listen back to the full interview here:
2022 saw the Council’s first rates increase in 13 years, with the additional income providing an estimated extra €1.3 million to the local authority’s coffers.
However, CEO of Ennis Chamber Margaret O’ Brien wants the Council to commit to not upping prices next year, as the cost of living squeeze begins to impact their bottom line.
