Budget Must Protect Households From Another Winter Of Cold Homes And Energy Debt, Call 7 Major Environmental and Social NGOs

A group of seven leading civil society organisations has today warned that without urgent Government action in Budget 2026, households across Ireland will be left facing another winter of cold homes, impossible choices and mounting debt.

The call comes from Friends of the Earth, the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Disability Federation of Ireland, Irish Rural Link, Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, National Women’s Council of Ireland, and National Traveller MABS. 

It comes as the Fuel Allowance season starts today, with the rate frozen at €33 since 2022, despite record arrears and soaring energy costs. CRU data shows nearly 300,000 households are now in arrears on electricity bills, and 27% are in arrears on gas - the highest on record. Energy prices remain among the highest in Europe, with Irish households facing further increases this winter. Yet the Government has so far failed to set out any plan to support households this heating season, following the end of energy credits and the scrapping of the Energy Poverty Action Plan.

The network of seven NGOs and advocacy groups are calling for immediate measures needed in Budget 2026 to protect people from cold homes, high bills, and the impacts of an unequal, fossil-fuel based energy system, including:

• Restoring the value of the Fuel Allowance and widening eligibility. Increase the rate by at least €9.50 per week to restore its value in line with inflation, and widen eligibility to Working Family Payment recipients, as promised in the Programme for Government. Fund this by ringfencing the increased carbon tax receipts to support those most impacted by energy costs.

• Providing targeted emergency support for households already in arrears, to prevent debt spirals this winter. Single parents in particular must be targeted, as CSO data showed one-parent households in utility arrears doubled from 14.1% to 28.2% between 2023 and 2024.

• Banning winter disconnections for households on low incomes by expanding the definition of “Vulnerable Customers” to include financially vulnerable households, as committed to in the Government’s 2022 Energy Poverty Action Plan.

But short-term relief alone is not enough. To break the cycle of energy poverty and protect households into the future, the energy poverty network is also calling for medium- to long-term measures including:

• Introduce an Energy Guarantee Scheme to ensure every household has access to a basic affordable level of energy to meet essential needs.

• Increased, multi-annual investment in targeted retrofitting schemes, such as the social housing retrofit scheme, and deliver on the PfG commitment to target older, oil-dependent homes, to permanently lift households out of energy poverty and reduce fossil fuel reliance.

• Establishing independent, community-based energy advice services in every county, so people can access trusted, independent guidance on supports and energy upgrades.

Clare O’Connor, Programme Coordinator at Friends of the Earth, said:

We cannot face into another winter where families are forced to choose between heating and eating. Record numbers of households are already in arrears, yet the Government has scrapped the Energy Poverty Action Plan, ended energy credits, and rowed back on energy efficiency standards for rental properties without consultation. Budget 2026 must provide immediate relief for households in crisis, while setting out a clear, long-term pathway to improve housing conditions for renters and social housing tenants, and to get all Irish homes off polluting, expensive fossil fuels once and for all.

Allison O’Malley Graham, Research & Policy Officer at Society of St Vincent de Paul, said:

Families cannot be asked to pay 2025 energy costs with 2022 levels of assistance: the core value of the Fuel Allowance must be restored and eligibility must be widened to meet the current reality of energy prices. 

SVP members across the country are supporting people overwhelmed by energy costs—falling into arrears, self-rationing heat and light, or struggling to feed the prepay meter. Despite one-off payments, energy debt is rising, particularly among families with children. Budget 2026 must act on the Government’s commitments and extend the Fuel Allowance to families in receipt of the Working Family Payment. This would be a meaningful step toward protecting children’s health and wellbeing this winter.

Fleachta Phelan, Policy & Advocacy Manager at Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI), said:

While one off payments in recent years did not address the fundamental problem of inadequate social protection supports, they did bridge the cost of living gap and help people keep the heating on. We cannot see the specific supports for disabled people rescinded/taken away in this Budget, as they face into another cold and long winter. If the government does not bring in the promised Cost of Disability payment in this Budget, it must at a minimum retain the one-off payment from previous years, and increase fuel allowance rates to match current prices.

Aoife Foley, National Financial Inclusion and Social Policy Worker with National Traveller MABS said:

Irish Traveller families are among the hardest hit by rising energy costs, with many already living in poverty in poor housing conditions and facing impossible financial choices. Without urgent action in Budget 2026, energy debt will push more Traveller households deeper into poverty, exclusion and isolation.

Notes: 

• List of NGOs: Friends of the Earth, the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Disability Federation of Ireland, Irish Rural Link, Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, National Women’s Council of Ireland, and National Traveller MABS.

• The CRU Arrears and NPA disconnection update June 2025 available here shows 13% (298,336) of domestic electricity customers and 27% (183,520) of domestic gas customers in arrears. 

• The CRU (Commission for the Regulation of Utilities) in its Decision Paper in September 2025 , highlighted specific concerns around the increase in families falling into arrears 2 or more times. "While the CRU does not collect arrears data based on demographics, the Central Statistics Office does and it’s 2024 data collection showed some concerning trends, particularly in relation to families with children under 18 years old – among this cohort, one-parent households finding themselves in utility arrears twice or more jumped from 14.1% in 2023 to 28.2% in 2024, while for two-parent households this figure rose from 5.3% to 8%."

• Eurostat Energy Price Data available here.

• The 2022 Energy Poverty Action Plan, available here, was due to be revised in 2024. However, the Government has withdrawn this commitment and stated that a separate Energy Affordability Plan will be developed. NGOs have highlighted that this Affordability Plan, which has yet to be published, risks undermining necessary initiatives to address rising energy poverty.