The Society of St Vincent de Paul has said they are dealing with people who have to choose whether to eat or heat their homes. 

The Arctic snap has only served to exacerbate the cost of living crisis as it costs more to keep the temperature from dropping. 

The charity says the high costs of both fuel and food means people are juggling their weekly bills to try and make ends meet.

“People out there are making awful choices,” SVP spokesperson Paddy O'Flynn said. 

“Do you eat or heat? Do you put food on the table or keep the house warm - if it is warm.

“The biggest requirement of all those [callers] is for food - 36 to 40% of all calls are requests to help families and people with food.” 

Energy poverty

Some people who have tried to keep their bills low have even discovered they no longer meet the minimum threshold for the Government’s energy credits. 

A number of elderly constituents have approached People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett, asking for help with the issue. 

“What we discovered over the last couple of weeks in my office - and I’ve started to hear about more cases now - is that people who didn’t use very much electricity because they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to pay their bills, didn’t reach what’s called the minimum usage threshold,” Deputy Boyd Barrett told Newstalk Breakfast. 

“So, they used so little electricity that they weren’t given the credit but they believed they were going to get it. 

“In fact, they were depending on it and were shocked to discover they were not entitled to it.”

The Dún Laoghaire TD said the policy is “grossly unfair” and urged the Government to make payments of the credits universal.