Ireland Cuts 200 Euros From Energy Bills to Curb Rising Costs

DUBLIN (Reuters) – The Irish government on Thursday announced a 200 euro credit to all domestic electricity accounts and a 20% cut to public transport costs until the end of the year in a bid to ease political pressure building around record inflation.

The government in December announced plans to credit all domestic electricity users with 113 euros early in 2022, but has decided a larger payment is now justified.

Thursday’s measures, which will also boost payments to those who regularly receive support to pay for energy and medicine, increase the cost of the package to 505 million euros from December’s estimate of 210 million.

Irish inflation rose to a 20-year high of 5.5% in December after a rapid rise in recent months and the rising cost of living has dominated politics for weeks.

The government was put on the defensive earlier on Thursday as opposition politicians criticised both what media reports said would be the likely size of the measure and the fact the key measures would benefit the rich as well as the poor.

“It may not go as far as many people would like, I acknowledge that,” spending minister Michael McGrath told RTE radio ahead of the announcement. “But it will be a genuine effort to make a positive difference.”

(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Andrea Ricci)