The overwhelming majority of people (90 per cent) believe the Government should continue providing energy credits to households in the face of elevated inflation and increased fuel charges, a sentiment survey by consumer advocacy group Taxback indicates.
It found that just over half (54 per cent) believed these supports should continue throughout the summer rather than being recommenced in the autumn when the weather cools, as has been suggested.
Irish households have received three lump sum credits to the value of €200 each, totalling €600. These payments were made between November 2022 and April 2023. In the Government’s €1.3 billion cost-of-living package announcement earlier this year Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said a further €200 energy credit would not be issued over the summer months.
However, he said there may be an option to reintroduce the credits again in the winter months but this would depend on the cost of electricity at the time.
Taxback’s survey, which polled 2,000 taxpayers, found that just 10 per cent of people believed the energy credits should not be reinstated.
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The survey also found that 67 per cent of people were in agreement that the Government should continue with the current reduced excise rates on petrol and diesel “and not restore them to their original state, stating that struggling families and businesses need the continued support to survive”.
A further fifth (21 per cent) of taxpayers said that energy companies now need to step up and reduce prices for households and business.
“Everyone is feeling the pinch as rising costs are making it ever-more expensive to heat homes, do the weekly shop and fill the car with fuel,” said Marian Ryan, director of Taxback.
“The weather is improving slightly as we move towards the summer months however, his doesn’t have an immediate impact on people’s finances. People are only receiving their winter or early spring bills now and recent price hikes are filtering through. Adding to people’s financial stress is the incremental return of excise duty rates on petrol and diesel which are set to be fully restored from October 31st.”
