Sinn Féin is calling on the government to urgently reduce high energy prices in Ireland.

The party has launched a suite of measures to tackle high levels of energy poverty as part of their submission to the revised Energy Poverty Action Plan.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Action and the Environment, Darren O'Rourke TD said; "Energy poverty is a critical issue in Ireland today, and significantly impacts hundreds of thousands of lives and livelihoods.

"According to the latest ESRI report on the issue, more than 550,000 households are living in energy poverty, and up to 43% of households are at risk. Unsurprisingly, calls for help with energy poverty to St. Vincent de Paul increased by 68% between 2021 and 2023. These are staggering figures in a country whose economy is supposedly 'booming.'

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"Although the energy price crisis following the Russian invasion of Ukraine undoubtedly had an adverse impact, the reality is that there has been significant pressure on ordinary workers and families for many years when it comes to heating their homes.

"After all, Ireland has some of the highest energy costs in Europe. For example, electricity prices here are two thirds higher than the EU average, while gas prices are over a quarter higher. What this means is that the typical Irish household is paying €700 more than European neighbours."

Sinn Féin spokesperson for Social Protection, Donnchadh O’Laoghaire TD said: "Despite the fact that the Energy Poverty Action Plan has been in place since 2022, the government’s approach has not been good enough from the outset.

"Not only did they fail to comprehensively engage with and champion the voices of civil society and those with lived experiences over the last 18 months, significantly we still have no definition for energy poverty on which policies should be based. Not only does it make impact more difficult to measure, it also poses a threat to the efficacy of our efforts. After-all, it is difficult to target something if you are not entirely sure what that something is.

"Therefore, we welcome the move to revise the Energy Poverty Action Plan and have proposed a suite of actions to alleviate the substantial pressure on ordinary workers and families."