The first of three €200 electricity credits will be paid to households tomorrow. 

With the cost of living still high, the Government announced the credits to prevent millions being plunged into energy poverty. 

The money will be deducted from the bills of around 2.2 million electricity customers and does not need to be applied for. 

The second energy credit will be paid - depending on an individual’s billing schedule - in January or February and the third in March and April. 

"We know from research that this type of financial support is necessary and that it does help,” Environment Minister Eamon Ryan said. 

“Everyone in Ireland is affected by the energy crisis and the rising cost of living.

"The Government is acutely aware of the difficulties people are facing, in particular older people, people on lower incomes, young families, renters and many more.

"A €2.4 billion package of supports was implemented earlier this year and a package of once-off measures worth €2.5 billion was included in the Budget 2023.

"We cannot cushion people completely from the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine. However, analysis shows that the combination of universal measures and targeted measures introduced in the Budget will help protect households, in particular those at greatest risk of energy poverty.”

A wind farm. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The Green party leader has previously said that the international energy crisis should be used as an opportunity to speed up the transition to renewables. 

This is the real opportunity for our country to switch away from fossil fuels and put it up to Putin, saying ‘We’re not going to use your gas in the future, we have our own [energy] supply’,” Minister Ryan told journalists in March. 

“The more we build, the cheaper this becomes.”

Main image: An image symbolic of energy costs with an electricity meter with Euro banknotes. Picture by: imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Photo