The number of people getting pulled into energy poverty is continuing to rise, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
Last year, there was a 40% rise in energy-related calls to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP).
In the first quarter of this year, that rose "a further 50% against the same period last year", Issy Petrie, SVP Research and Policy Officer, revealed.
"The situation continues to be extreme for prepay customers, who continue to face self-disconnection when there is simply no more money to feed the meter," she said.
"People are forced to make strategic choices between essentials; food through the week or energy through the week. No-one should be faced with this dilemma."
"We need clear priorities ahead of next winter" including giving people the space to "pay back arrears" which are building up, she told the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action.
Otherwise, there is the danger of a "legacy of indebtedness" taking hold.
Ms Petrie urged that the "severely devalued fuel allowance" be increased and made available to those in receipt of the family energy payment.
There are 103,000 children in those families, she noted.
"Ongoing energy costs will continue to be unaffordable for many throughout summer," she warned.
Each of the three speakers addressing the committee emphasised the vulnerability of those in the private rental sector.
Clare O'Connor, Energy Policy Officer with Friends of the Earth, said that tenants "have little or no ability" to improve their insulation.
She warned that we are seeing the emergence of a "two-tier energy and heating sector".
Only those with enough money can make the initial investment needed to access the State funding provided in the national retrofitting programme, Michelle Murphy of Social Justice Ireland said.
The programme is effectively transferring wealth to those who are better off, she said.
Each of the speakers urged that the retrofitting programme should target those who are less well-off.
Almost three quarters of those who are living in social housing are in energy poverty, Ms O'Connor said.
'All we seem to get is optics but no action'
People are distraught over unaffordable energy costs, the Sinn Féin Leader has told the Dáil.
Mary Lou McDonald said no energy company has reduced prices for ordinary people.
She asked, what is Government going to do about this, beyond cosy chats?
"All we seem to get is optics but no action," she said.
Responding the Taoiseach said electricity prices have gone up a lot in the last year.
Leo Varadkar said energy companies buy electricity and gas ahead of time. "That is why retail prices will fall but there will be a time lag between when they fall," he said.
Government has provided energy credits to homes and the TBESS scheme for businesses has been extenuated, he said.
Additional reporting: Mícheál Lehane
