Government at fault for high electricity prices, says Crowe

Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said that “Government inertia” is to blame for electricity costs remaining high for consumers.

He said that Irish consumers are paying an extra €700 a year on average compared to their European counterparts.

“This is a direct result of decades of successive Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green-led Governments failing to invest in renewable energy, leaving the State overly reliant on dirty and expensive fossil fuel imports, energy insecurity, and exposed to the mood swings of the international mark,” he said.

“Renewable energy is bankable energy security. Not only would a greater investment in renewable energy help us reach our carbon emissions targets, but by relying less on the foreign energy market, we could weather any spikes in prices caused by global events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine or OPEC’s recent reduction in production.”

In order to reduce costs, Crowe said that Ireland “must ramp up our retrofitting plans.”

“There must be increased funding and radical reform of the Government’s current regressive retrofitting and Solar Photovoltaic Scheme, in order to target those who need it most coupled with an accessible, affordable and efficiently tiered, area-based schemes for retrofitting and Solar PV and a dedicated fund for the retrofitting of solid fuel homes.”

“Government inaction is at the heart of Ireland’s rip-off prices.  Sinn Féin in government would tackle the exorbitant price of electricity in Ireland and give ordinary workers and families a break from unacceptable electricity prices,” he said.