Ireland to introduce fresh energy bill supports for households and businesses, says Taoiseach

Mr Varadkar said "it's pretty obvious" people will need help this winter with falls in wholesale electricity and gas prices not yet filtering down to household bills in Ireland.

Mr Varadkar's comments come days after lobby group Food Drink Ireland, an arm of Ibec, called for extended energy supports. 

Ireland will introduce a fresh set of temporary support measures for households and businesses in October's budget to help with energy bills that will still be too high this winter, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said.

Like most EU countries, Ireland introduced a range of measures to mitigate the impact of soaring energy prices last year, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent gas and oil prices rocketing.