A 100-year-old woman was “totally gobsmacked” when she received an electricity bill for €957 for a two-month period, her nephew has said.
Kitty, from Co Meath, recently received the bill from Electric Ireland covering a 59-day period, from December 7th, 2022 to February 3rd, 2023.
Her nephew, Frank Dempsey, said he was unsure how his aunt would pay the bill and would likely cut back even further on heating her home.
“She showed me the bill and she couldn’t believe it. She had never had a bill of that magnitude,” Mr Dempsey told The Irish Times.“The actual total gross bill was nearer to €1,200 but after the various deductions and credits, it was €957.49. This lady has no electric central heating.
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“She has a fridge, a washing machine, an immersion heater in the cylinder, a television and a small blow heater that only comes on for about an hour a day on the timer. Her main heat is from a big open fire; that’s all she has.”
Mr Dempsey said his aunt’s previous highest bill was €430 and she currently receives a pension of about €200 per week.
“Over the period we’re looking at here, the same eight weeks, I collected for her €1,600 so they’re kindly leaving her with about €50 a week for her to pay the rest of her bills, to buy her fuel and to live…It’s just unbelievable that a bill could come to that, even given the price increases and what’s happening in Ukraine,” he said.
“How anyone could expect a woman of her age to pay that kind of money, I just can’t get my head around it. She was totally gobsmacked.”
Mr Dempsey added that having contacted Electric Ireland about the bill, the company said Kitty could pay it in 10 weekly installments.
Kitty’s bill was initially raised by Sinn Féin TD Johnny Guirke in the Dáil on Wednesday, who also referenced a man from his constituency, Gerry, who had recently received an Electric Ireland bill for €1,678. The Meath West TD said the man’s previous bill was €691 while the one before that was €290.
Mr Guirke said Gerry’s bill worked out at €26.22 a day over 64 days, “not just the highest price in Europe for a domestic house, but the highest in the world”.
He said the Government and Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan “need to get the finger out and deal with these energy companies who are making massive profits on the back of pensioners and the Irish public in a cost of living crisis”.
In response, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he had the same experience speaking to constituents and that many people were “really shocked” by utility bills that had landed in recent weeks.
He said the Government was acting to address the issue. He said it had extended the 9 per cent VAT rate on electricity and gas until the end of October and had introduced targeted welfare payments, adding there was another €200 electricity credit coming for householders.
“We’re not going to stop here, the next step is the introduction of a windfall tax so that we can take back some of the profits of the energy companies and give them back to people to help them with their bills,” Mr Varadkar said.
