Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton is to seek a discount of 8% from the ESB on the bill her department pays for many of its clients.
In 2010, the department spent €151m on behalf of its customers, and received an annual discount of €1.4m.
The department is now seeking a discount of €11.2m.
In a statement, Minister Burton expressed disappointment that at a time when the ESB is experiencing an increase in bad debts, the company is not willing to offer a bigger discount to her department, which pays its huge bill on time.
Earlier, the minister was urged to reverse cuts in the amount of free electricity and gas that over 400,000 pensioners are entitled to.
This month there was a rise of between 12% and 15% in electricity prices.
New research by DIT and the Institute of Public Health suggests that half of older people are going without other necessities in order to pay their fuel bills.
