Thousands of households in arrears on energy bills after ending of Government support

There were 400,000 energy accounts in arrears across the country at the end of May, as the Government's electricity credits were coming to an end, energy regulator said. 

Thousands of households are in arrears on their energy bills, with the number of accounts falling behind rising 10% in just three months, new figures show. 

Figures provided by energy regulator CRU to the Oireachtas environment committee show there were 240,791 households in arrears on their electricity bills in May, up from 211,855 in February. Similarly, the number of households in gas arrears rose from 152,276 in February to 165,206 in May.