An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01
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Sarah O'Reilly (AON), Agricultural Panel

I raise the issue of electricity prices. We have heard over and over that Ireland has the highest electricity rates in Europe. However, it may surprise the Leader to know that Ireland has the second highest household electricity prices in the world, second only to Bermuda. We should think about that for a second. Households in Ireland - hard-working families - are paying the second highest electricity prices in the world. At the same time, the ESB, a semi-State body, has made almost €3 billion in after-tax profits over the past four years. We have over 300,000 households in energy arrears, yet, just today, electricity prices have gone up again. Who exactly is benefiting from this system? It is not the ordinary taxpayer.
Today, Aontú brought forward a motion in the Dáil to tackle the cost of living because this is about much more than electricity bills. Over the last five years, families have been hit by once price shock after another. Grocery bills have risen by around 40% since 2021. Energy bills are up by 57%. Diesel prices have soared and overall prices in Ireland are 36% above the EU average. Many families find it impossible to afford everyday emergencies, such as a car breaking down, a new washing machine or fridge or an unexpected trip to the dentist. It feels like people are working harder and harder and getting less in return. The situation has become so absurd that it is now more expensive to charge an electric vehicle than fill the tank with petrol or diesel. If my household identified as a data centre, I would have access to significantly cheaper electricity rates than ordinary households, as is the case for data centres in this country.
Electricity is a necessity. A semi-State company should not be maximising profits while hundreds of thousands of households struggle to pay their bills. Aontú's motion would reduce ESB profits to zero to ensure households get a fair price for electricity. That should make it enough money to cover costs and invest. It should not profit off the backs of taxpayers.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01