The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) has said that the government needs to do more to tackle fuel poverty among vulnerable groups such as single parents.
With annual household energy bills set to rise by €321 according to a recent report, SVP said that households at risk of poverty – particularly those with single parents and social housing tenants – should avail of protections offered to “vulnerable customers.”
“At the moment it takes people with a disability to get on the vulnerable household list, we would think that people living in poverty should also be on that list”, said SVP’s Head of Social Justice and Policy, Louise Bayliss, while speaking to The Irish Catholic.
“We know that families with children are the ones who suffer the most energy and utility arrears.”
“We know that the people who are most at risk of poverty are living in HAP households. Their risk of poverty jumps to over 53% after housing costs.”
In 2023, 14.1% of lone parents were in arrears more than twice in the year, however this rate more than double to 28.2% the following year.
As of June 2025, 300,000 Irish households were in electricity arrears and 170,000 were in gas arrears.
SVP is also calling for an increase in the fuel allowance to match the expected increase in energy bills.
“The average household will see their energy bill rise by €321 a year, but the fuel allowance only went up by €140 a year in the last Budget – so, that’s a big difference”, Ms Bayliss said.
“The other thing we would ask for is an energy advisory service similar to MABS, so that people could be advised about smart tariffs, of how to change – for a lot of people that’s very overwhelming.”
Ms Bayliss also called on the government to gather data on PAYG electricity customers as not all of them are counted in official statistics for those in arrears.
“What we don’t know is how many people are on Pay-as-you-go meters and who have to go one or two days a week without electricity while they’re waiting to get money”, she said.
