The charity St Vincent de Paul has appealed to the Government to match core social welfare rates and fuel allowance payments with inflation in the next budget.
Appearing before the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, the charity told members it estimated that approximately 377,000 people were in energy poverty, with one-parent families, people with disabilities and unemployed people most at risk.
Dr Tricia Keilthy, Head of Social Justice and Policy at SVP, also suggested that the Government should introduce new local energy advisors.
Such personnel would be present in local areas and provide one-to-one support to those struggling with energy costs, to ensure that they are aware of their entitlements.
Deputy Denis Naughten said this was a constructive proposal and added that he would also be writing to the Minister for Social Protection to outline concerns raised by SVP in relation to energy poverty.
Concern was also expressed by members around the lapsing of the utility disconnection moratorium at the end of March.
Deputy Joan Collins called on the committee to formally seek for it to be reintroduced.
Dr Keilthy told members that SVP had not seen the true impact of the moratorium's cessation.
However, she added that energy providers often try to avoid disconnections and that the level of disconnections remained low when the moratorium was lifted last year.
