People forced to choose between 'heat or eat' as Government policies fail, report warns
People are going to bed early to stay warm and keep energy costs down, warns Friends of the Earth.
The Government is failing to address the root causes of energy poverty and deprivation, with many Irish households “left out in the cold”, a new report has warned.
The research from Friends of the Earth makes a series of damning findings and says State policy is found wanting in many areas, including in retrofitting and the one-off electricity credit.
Based on input from 32 experts across housing, poverty, climate and energy, it argues vulnerable and lower-income households are being failed the most by Government policies.
"For frontline services, people presented with ‘now-impossible’ bills and spoke of cutting out food so as to pay for fuel,” the report said.
“Energy spending displaced food spending as the top household outgoing, forcing a choice of heat or eat. People went to bed early to keep warm. Increasing energy costs were creating ‘really desperate situations’ for vulnerable households.”
It noted new cohorts of people were finding themselves in energy poverty, many of whom are in the private rental sector. There is a “real danger” that things will worsen this year, it said.
Government decisions to support households were described as “short-term, siloed and market-focused".
On energy bills, it labelled the present system as “functionally perverse”. It said utility companies could raise standing charges at will so, even when households do cut back on usage, they face higher bills through these charges anyway.
It highlighted problems with retrofitting and energy efficiency programmes, which included waiting lists of up to three years for the SEAI’s free energy upgrade scheme, as well as a major labour and skills shortage. It said a typical full retrofit cost is €23,000, which is a “huge commitment”.
While aiming to halve carbon emissions overall by 2030, grants for essential retrofitting are “skewed to already-well-off homeowners” and leave many groups and communities unable to access them, it said.
Friends of the Earth energy policy officer Clare O’Connor said: “Families who can’t afford to pay their energy bills aren’t in a position to invest in expensive retrofitting measures. The report shows how the Government should be going much further to make sure these families have access to the benefits of warm homes and lower energy bills.
“Retrofitting for low-income families in inefficient housing needs to be a top priority — much more investment is needed in State-led retrofitting programmes so they can reach more families.”
The report makes 39 recommendations to Government across a wide range of issues.
It includes the option of zero-interest or low-cost loans to help finance retrofits, more ambitious targets for the retrofitting of social housing and making landlords ensure a minimum energy performance standard in their rental properties.
“The Government should introduce an Energy Poverty Act that defines fuel poverty, sets down ministerial duties, introduces legally bound targets, and sets up an independent energy poverty advisory council,” it added.
“Vulnerable customers should be moved to the most economical tariff and permitted to access bill-pay regardless of credit record.”
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