Energy Prices
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare

As we said, it is of very serious concern to the Government that the energy component of retail prices in Ireland is significantly above the wholesale cost. The IEA renewables report notes that the gap is widening across the countries studied since the start of the energy crisis. Of course that is concerning. The gap is particularly large in Ireland with the energy component of retail prices up to three times that of the wholesale cost. The CRU has carried out extensive monitoring of the Irish retail energy market in recent years and has found no evidence of market failure. Market failure is one thing, yet there is obviously something that is distorting that. That is why the Minister has asked the CRU to carry out that investigation which was identified and factored into the programme for Government. I am hopeful that when that piece of work is done it will shine a light on the issue. It may not be a case of market failure but perhaps there is a lack of competition; I do not know. It is worrying that the gap is widening and it clearly requires a thorough analysis of the facts to establish what exactly is happening. Then it is a matter of an appropriate Government response within the confines of the free market that exists and how the Government might be able to act to ensure domestic and business consumers are able to purchase energy at rates that are comparable. At the end of the day, it puts pressure on every aspect of society if the energy market is not functioning to the extent that we want. It hits us from a competitiveness point of view. If the Deputy has had an opportunity to read the Draghi report, he will know it is about competitiveness in terms of where we are at both a European and a domestic level.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18