Government to prepare options to help reduce cost of energy bills

The Finance Minister has said the Government must look at methods like targeted grants and accessible financing to help people upgrade their homes or their heating systems.

The Government is to prepare additional options to help people reduce the cost of energy, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.

The Finance Minister has said the Government must look at methods like targeted grants and accessible financing to help people upgrade their homes or their heating systems.

“We have to do more to help people with energy costs in Ireland,” the Tánaiste said.

“We know that the war in Iran has made things much worse, but even before that, structurally, electricity costs in Ireland have been far too high.” 

Mr Harris said options would be worked on by officials within his Department through the Tax Strategy Group.

Options being put on the table by Mr Harris is to increase State investment into the electricity grid to cut the charges on energy bills. These charges are used to maintain the energy grid.

Mr Harris said a reliance on fossil fuels can leave people exposed during a time of conflict, adding that there needs to be help to transition.

“We’ve got to look at what we can do in terms of targeted grants, accessible financing, continued investment in retrofitting homes, expanding renewable energy, and improving our electricity grid,” Mr Harris said.

“So I am asking officials to examine whether there are additional practical supports we can introduce to help people upgrade their home heating systems, including hybrid heat pumps or lower-emission fuels like HVO.” 

The Tánaiste was speaking after delivering a speech to the European People’s party on Saturday, where he said there needed to be a focus on long-term solutions given the ongoing war in the Middle East.

In the speech, Mr Harris said there was a need to “incentivise people to make the changes we need to reduce reliance on imported fuels, to reduce their energy bills and to help Europe and Ireland become energy independent”.

It comes just weeks after the Government further cut excise duty on petrol and diesel, and ahead of an expected announcement on new schemes to assist farmers and hauliers deal with the increased costs of fuels.