Businesses seeing energy bills rising five times normal rates

Calls for Government to introduce measures to keep energy costs 'at a reasonable level' to protect the SME sector

Cork Chamber president Ronan Murray and CEO Conor Healy with their pre-budget submission that highlights the impact of inflation on businesses. Picture: Gerard McCarthy

European Union ministers on Friday asked the commission to come up with emergency liquidity measures to help strained energy markets as well as severing the link between expensive gas and power prices.

While they all agreed on the need for urgent action, they stopped short of calling for a mandatory reduction in power demand — perhaps the most crucial step to ease the crisis. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is to set out concrete measures for legislation related to energy next week.