Civil Society Organisations Dismayed by Universal Energy Credit Proposal in Budget 2025, Call for Targeted Measures to Address Energy Poverty Ahead of Winter.

Leading NGOs advocate for increased retrofitting and permanent social welfare increases to tackle energy poverty more effectively.

A coalition of 11 environmental, social justice, and voluntary organisations—including Friends of the Earth, Age Action, Social Justice Ireland, Society of St Vincent de Paul, National Traveller MABs, INOU, the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice,  Disability Federation Ireland, Irish Rural Link, Polio Survivors Ireland, and Clare PPN — has today urged the Government to reconsider the proposal for another untargeted energy credit in Budget 2025[1]. Instead, they call for targeted measures that will provide immediate support and lasting relief for households facing energy poverty, while helping to reduce fossil fuel dependence in line with Ireland’s legally-binding emissions reduction targets.

Untargeted one-off energy credits, like those introduced in the past two budgets, are a less effective use  of public funds to tackle energy poverty than targeted interventions[2]. According to research from the ESRI, social transfers for vulnerable households to help with the cost of heating (such as the Fuel Allowance) alongside fully funded energy retrofits should be expanded to more effectively tackle energy poverty[3]. 

Despite the use of universal energy credits, over half a million people (546,000) went without heating due to cost in 2023. The CSO’s Survey on Income and Living Conditions [4] showed that in 2023:

• 19% of single-adult households with children were unable to afford to heat their homes.
• 16% of individuals unable to work due to long-standing health issues reported being unable to afford adequate heating.
• Renters experienced higher levels of deprivation, with 36.5% living in enforced deprivation.

Civil Society Organisations Call for the Following Actions in Budget 2025 to Tackle Energy Poverty:

1. Redirect funds from universal energy credits towards targeted financial support measures and expanded access to retrofitting.
2. Introduce a permanent and adequate increase in social welfare payments to help vulnerable households cope with rising energy costs, including restoring the purchasing power of the Fuel Allowance to 2020 levels, and expanding its eligibility to those on the Working Family Payment.
3. Accelerate the transition from fossil fuels by implementing targeted retrofitting programs for poorly insulated homes, focusing on energy-poor households. Multi-annual funding should be committed to retrofitting all social housing by 2030, expanding the Warmer Homes Scheme[5] to include tenants in receipt of Housing Assistance Payment(HAP), and reinstating the successful Warmth and Wellbeing Pilot Scheme[6] for individuals with respiratory conditions.
4. Pilot a Community Energy Advice Service providing tailored support for households—particularly those at risk of energy poverty—to access grants, improve energy efficiency, and transition to renewable heating.

Clare O’Connor, Energy Policy Officer, Friends of the Earth said:

"Universal energy credits are a short-term solution that offers temporary relief but fail to address the root causes of energy poverty, and do nothing to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. This Budget must prioritise retrofitting for the least energy efficient homes and the least well-off in society, as well as targeted social welfare increases - both of which have been proven to have a more lasting and equitable impact."

Michelle Murphy, Research & Policy Analyst at Social Justice Ireland, said:

“Universal energy credits are not an efficient use of resources.  Higher income households, who have financial buffers far in excess of those on lower incomes, gain the same in cash terms as poorer households.  This money should be invested in measures such as expansion of the Warmer Homes Scheme and extending the Fuel Allowance to those on the Working Family Payment.”

Nancy Power, Coordinator of National Traveller MABS said:

“The universal energy credits have not reached those who need them most. The majority of Travellers living in trailers did not receive the previous energy credits despite 77% being in energy poverty in 2019. The budget needs to prioritise those most in need with targeted social protection measures including widening the criteria for and restoring the purchasing power of the fuel allowance.”

Mary Murphy, Research Officer at Age Action, said:

“We know which households and individuals are most at risk of fuel poverty, and so we should channel our resources to where they are most needed and where they can have the strongest impact. Older persons disproportionately occupy the coldest homes in Ireland, but that is the kind of consideration the universal credit approach does not take into account. Our system needs to be more responsive to the realities of fuel poverty, for older persons and other members of our communities at particular risk.”

Fleachta Phelan, Policy Advocacy Manager at Disability Federation Ireland said:

“One in two people who can’t work because of disability or illness live in deprivation. And the percentage of this group who went without heating increased rapidly last year – from 14.5% in 2022 to 27.7% in 2023. This is despite energy credits. Disabled people live with many extra costs, including higher energy usage, due to their disability. Budget 2025 must bring in a ‘Cost of Disability’ payment to start to address this.” 

ENDS

 

Notes:

1. The coalition includes: Friends of the Earth, Age Action, Social Justice Ireland, Society of St Vincent de Paul,  National Traveller MABS, INOU, the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice,  Disability Federation Ireland, Irish Rural Link,  Polio Survivors Ireland and Clare PPN
2. Targeted, Implementable, and Practical Energy Relief Measures for Households in Europe (2022) 
3. ESRI(2023) Keep out the cold: An analysis of potential gaps in fuel poverty policies in Ireland
4. CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions
5. The Warmer Homes Scheme is the SEAI’s Free Energy Upgrade Scheme, available to households receiving specific social welfare payments. 
6. The Warmth and Wellbeing Scheme was a pilot retrofit scheme whereby health professionals could prescribe a free home retrofit for patients with respiratory conditions at-risk of energy poverty. Results from the pilot showed clear physical and mental health benefits of home energy upgrades, and participants reported fewer hospital admissions, GP visits and reductions in drug prescriptions for their respiratory conditions