Government energy debt figures slammed in Kildare

The latest government energy debt figures have been slammed by a politician based in County Kildare.

Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South, Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh, slammed the government yesterday (August 5 last) in her statement.

As noted by the Kildare town rep, the most recent figures show the number of people in energy arrears has hit an all-time high of over 300,000.

She explained: "New figures obtained by Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan show a record 301,379 households are in energy arrears, the highest number ever recorded.
 
"On top of this, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is preparing to hike the network costs that you have to pay, but to cut them for data centres.
 
"The same data centres are hoarding more and more of the energy we produce, stalling the delivery of badly needed homes, and putting our grid under real pressure."

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She also alleged: "Big energy companies like Flogas, are intent on continuing to jack up their energy prices, all while raking in eye watering profits.

"The government will pretend that these issues are outside their control, but they are not; these are political decisions."

The Deputy also criticised both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's suggestion to create a "task force" to look at energy prices — "This will be another talking shop to waste taxpayer money," she insisted.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh added: "This government need to step up and tackle these issues; they need to scrap the cut to costs for data centres and crucially, use this year’s budget to bring forward badly needed supports to help families and small businesses who are struggling with sky high energy costs."

She concluded: "Sinn Féin would tackle this head on; September’s budget must include energy credits as part of a cost-of-living package to reduce the pressure households are facing and extend the reduced VAT on electricity and gas bills until the end of the year."

In related news, Deputy Ní Raghallaigh made headlines last week when she criticised the "baked-in" increase of Local Property Tax in Kildare. 

Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South, Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh. File photograph

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