One of Ireland's largest solid fuel suppliers has announced it is to increase the price of a bag of coal by €7 in the coming weeks.
CPL Fuels said the rise is due to an increase in the cost of materials and the war in Ukraine.
The charity ALONE has called for a Government intervention to offset the price hike.
The price of a bag of coal went up by €3 last September and from Monday CPL said this will rise again by €4.50.
The price will increase by a further €2.50 on 4 April. There's also a carbon tax increase of around 90 cent due in May.
That will see the price of a bag of coal increase by almost €11, or almost 50% in just eight months.
Patrick Reynolds, National Accounts Manager for CPL Fuels, said the rising costs of raw materials and the war in Ukraine have contributed to the increase.
"We've seen spikes in the price of oil, kerosene and fuel at the pumps and it's no different in the solid fuel industry. We can't avoid those costs and we have to pass those costs on into the market.
"We've seen over a 100% increase in the input costs for our raw material costs for low smoke fuels and solid fuels this week alone.
"It's not unreasonable to expect when we have to pay higher costs for the importation of such raw materials and solid fuels that we have to hand that on to the market. We don't expect any changes in the medium term. If anything this could get worse - it could be further price increases."
CPL said it has also seen an increased demand for coal from those who usually heat their homes with oil.
"I think because of the current spike in the price of kerosene and home heating oil we have seen a lot of people starting to turn to coal, particularly those that can't afford to fill their tanks or to buy a substantial amount of home oil at one particular time.
"Those people are also now turning to solid fuel as the primary source of heating for their homes."
CPL estimates that around 80,000 homes in Ireland rely on coal for their main heat source and they have called on the Government to do something to help with increasing costs.
"We're calling on the Government to consider putting a subsidy on the cost of low-smoke fuels and smokeless coal, which will be in keeping with their low-smoke strategies, but will also help those families in these difficult times to allow them to burn fuel that's more competitive and more cost efficient."
Charities working with older people say the increase in coal prices will cause a rise in fuel poverty.
Sean Moynihan, CEO of ALONE, said the Government needs to intervene.
"These price rises are hard to bear especially for people on fixed incomes and people where the basic pension is their only incomes. This is another shock to the system.
"The reality is, energy, keeping warm and heat is a public health issue for all older people. More older people live in houses with low BER ratings, more old people use solid fuel and oil and people are having to make really difficult decisions at the moment and we don't think these types of issues can go on without some intervention.
"The real reality is that most of the fuel allowance this year has been eaten up by the increase in energy costs," said Mr Moynihan.
But these calls comes in a week when a number of ministers have already said there is only so much the Government could do to insulate consumers and businesses from the effects of rising prices.
