Donegal Deputy Pearse Doherty has accused the government of pushing the cost for their failures onto households.
The Sinn Fein TD was commenting following information released to Sinn Féin, which showed that the state has collected €2.5bn in five years in VAT from some of the highest energy bills in Europe.
He called on the government to bring forward energy supports for households as part of a cost-of-living package.
Deputy Doherty said “Households right across this state continue to pay some of the highest energy bills anywhere in Europe.
“At the same time, the government benefits from that failure by collecting record levels of VAT on top of those bills.
“The higher the cost of energy, the higher the VAT taken. Due to Ireland having some of the highest cost of energy in Europe, we have seen on average half a billion euro being taken in VAT every year.”
He added that this heaps more and more pressure onto households struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
“Is it any wonder that 440,000 households were behind on their energy bills this year. Households are getting hit from every angle as costs have gone up across the board?
“We need to see measures and reforms to bring down the prices of energy. And the government needs to bring forward a cost of living package that includes energy credits and an extension of the VAT reduction.
“The government needs to come to their senses on this issue. By any measure they have failed to get to grips with the cost of living crisis. Households need to be supported, not hit with more costs at every turn,” he said.
