Sinn Féin's spokesperson on Climate, the Environment and Energy, Pa Daly TD, has criticised the government and the energy regulator over what he described as an ongoing energy "rip-off", citing a new Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) report. He said the analysis shows Irish households are paying roughly €360 more per year than consumers in comparable European countries, with some 300,000 households in arrears.

Commenting on the NERI findings, Deputy Daly said: "Another body blow to Irish households as the energy rip-off continues unabated. They are being totally fleeced by profit hungry energy companies. Meanwhile, they are faced with a government who has no desire to stop it and a regulator who has been rendered powerless to.

"The findings of this new report are yet another damning indictment of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s handling of the Irish energy system. It is set up to fail households –'300,000 of who are in arrears. Furthermore, the report affirms Sinn Féin's analysis of the energy rip-off which the government has repeatedly ignored for years now.

"NERI found that energy cost increases in Ireland have dramatically outpaced the general rate of inflation and other European countries over the last three decades, making Irish consumers’ annual bills around €360 more expensive.

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"By September 2025, electricity prices were over four times higher than in January 1996. No other state in the EU15 group exceeded increases of three times their base over the same period Significantly, general Irish prices only rose 1.8 times during this timeframe.

"This led the researchers to conclude that Ireland has a significant 'cost growth outlier' within the EU15.

"It said that, while general price levels in Ireland moved in tandem with price levels in the rest of the eurozone, electricity prices have undergone a massive divergence.

"This in part can be explained by Ireland’s energy market liberalisation in the 1990s where energy went from being treated as a public good to a commodity to be exploited for excessive profit.

"This decision saw Ireland moving from some of the cheapest electricity in the EU to being the most expensive.

"The inherent failures of Ireland’s energy market are also borne out by the fact that although all countries experienced a price hike following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Irish prices have fallen much more slowly here.

"The report also pointed out Ireland's overdependence on gas, and the influence of gas prices on the price of electricity, which inflates it – a link which Sinn Féin have long since advocated should be broken.

"The energy rip-off is not inevitable however. It is a political choice by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and there are solutions.

"It's time for the government and the regulator to tackle this head on. They must adopt Sinn Féin’s proposals and enact our legislation to hold energy companies to account, to reinstate energy credits, to break the link between gas and electricity and to work towards Irish energy independence through the roll out of renewables. Energy is a public good and should be treated as such.

"Now is not the time to throw in the towel. It's time for real leadership to tackle the energy rip-off. The solutions are there. The difference is whether the government is going to make the choice to take them."