Publication
Energy Poverty Action Plan
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
On 13 December Government approved a new Energy Poverty Action Plan. The Plan has now been published and is available below.
Building on the 2016 Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty, and in response to rising energy prices, the actions in this Plan fall into two overarching categories – near and medium term measures with income, social protection and consumer protection supports to help consumers manage this winter, and increased funding for energy efficiency upgrades in 2023 and beyond to tackle the root causes of energy poverty. Many near term actions in this plan are already in place and their impact will be closely monitored through Quarter 1 of 2023.
An important purpose of this Plan is to capture all of the measures that are being implemented right across Government over the 2022/23 winter and to provide a source of clear information for consumers and stakeholders. The plan also announces two additional safeguards; we will establish a €10 million fund to provide a further safeguard for people struggling to pay their energy bills (in addition to supports from suppliers and the Additional Needs Payment operated by the Department of Social Protection), and will legislate to extend the definition of vulnerable customer to include financial vulnerability, which will extend the protection against disconnection for non-payment of account for a longer period over the winter.
