Minister O'Brien launches National Energy Affordability Taskforce
- Published on: 19 June 2025
- Last updated on: 25 June 2025
The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O'Brien today chaired the first meeting of the National Energy Affordability Taskforce (NEAT). The Taskforce has been established to identify and implement measures to enhance energy affordability for households and businesses. The Taskforce brings together representatives from across government and key energy sector stakeholders.
Transitioning to a clean energy system is crucial to enable us to meet our climate targets, minimise Ireland's dependence on fossil fuel imports, and boost our energy security and independence. This will ultimately lower costs and protect consumers from price volatility.
However, the investments needed to facilitate this renewables-led energy transformation are significant but must be prioritised to build a cleaner, more reliable and secure system that works for future generations. The Programme for Government acknowledges this challenge and commits to prioritising investment in the energy system in a manner which enhances security and affordability for consumers and businesses. The remit of this Taskforce is rooted in the challenge of tackling higher energy costs for consumers while decarbonising Ireland’s energy sector and managing growing electricity demand.
Launching the Taskforce, Minister O'Brien said:
"We have made significant progress to date in shifting towards a greener energy system, which will have significant climate, economic and social benefits in the decades to come. The work of this Taskforce acknowledges the challenges we face to continue this progress, while ensuring that households and businesses can meet costs throughout this transitional period. We need to adopt policies which will benefit consumers in the near term and implement reforms to ensure that energy system costs are fairly distributed in the years ahead.
"I understand that many families and businesses are feeling the pressure of current energy prices. The work of the Taskforce will include a full review of cost drivers within the energy sector, and consideration of how the EU Action Plan for Affordable Energy and associated guidance can be implemented in an Irish context. The Taskforce will be a crucial element of the government's efforts to improve national competitiveness, protect the most vulnerable within society from rising energy costs and ensure that Irish consumers benefit from the energy transition."
The core objectives of the Taskforce include:
- reviewing price drivers within the Irish energy sector with a view to identifying structural reforms and evaluating how costs are distributed within the energy system
- drafting an interim plan to identify short-term measures to support energy consumers in advance of Budget 2026
- undertaking a public consultation to ensure that Taskforce priorities are shaped by public and stakeholder input
- publishing a National Energy Affordability Action plan, which will include medium-term and long-term measures and structural reforms to lower costs for households and businesses
The terms of reference of the NEAT and minutes of the inaugural meeting will be published on the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment's website in the coming days.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
Membership
The Taskforce will be chaired by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, and is comprised of members from the following organisations:
- Department of the Taoiseach
- Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
- Department of Finance
- Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Sector Reform and Digitalisation
- Department of Social Protection
- Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
- Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU)
- Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)
- The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)
- ESB Networks
- EirGrid
- Gas Networks Ireland
Stakeholder engagement
The Taskforce's work programme will be supported by a process of ongoing engagement with relevant stakeholders, including industry bodies, suppliers and non-governmental organisations.