Leitrim households turning to charities for energy bill support as national arrears hit record high

The Government have been accused of wasting taxpayer money by Sligo-Leitrim TD Martin Kenny, as the number of people in energy arrears has reached an all-time high of over 300,000.

Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan obtained figures showing a record 301,379 households are now in energy arrears, the highest number ever recorded.

Deputy Kenny has said that the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is preparing to increase the network costs that consumers are required to pay, while reducing them for data centres. 

He added that these same data centres are consuming more and more of the energy produced, delaying the delivery of badly needed homes, and placing the national grid under significant pressure.

“The Government will pretend that these issues are outside their control, but they are not.

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“These are political decisions. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael talk about their glossy ‘taskforce’ to look at energy prices, despite the last government launching a ‘steering group’ to do the same thing,” Deputy Kenny said.

“This will be another talking shop to waste taxpayer money,” he added.

Last week, Flogas announced a seven percent increase in electricity prices starting next month, with more suppliers expected to follow. SSE Airtricity has already announced price rises.

Here in Leitrim, the issue of households falling into arrears on energy bills is something that Sinn Féin councillor Pádraig Fallon has been raising repeatedly.

The Drumkeeran councillor has highlighted that he has seen a growing number of local households struggling to keep up with their energy bills. In several cases, he has referred people to NGOs such as Barnardos or St Vincent de Paul, as well as the Department of Social Protection, in order to seek emergency payments.

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“It’s a national issue but it’s obviously an issue locally as well. It’s definitely gotten worse,” Cllr Fallon said.

“When we had the cost of living measure with the electricity credits, in some instances that wasn’t taking people out of their arrears,” he added.

It has been confirmed that energy credits to help with electricity and heating costs will not be included in the 2026 Budget, despite Ireland having some of the highest energy prices in Europe.

Although the credits didn’t cover everyone’s arrears, Cllr Fallon noted that for individuals living on their own, and for some young families, the credits were of great help and essential.

This is something that he is calling for the return of, along with greater regulation of the industry, adding it’s a “must” for energy credits to come back in.

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“There’s no doubt it’s going to get worse when it comes in to winter. It’s obvious that the Government need to plan for and introduce a cost of living package in the budget, in particular around energy. It’s going to get worse,” he warned.