North Cork TD Seán Sherlock has said that businesses in North Cork will be forced to close if Government inaction continues on the energy price increases crippling the sector. “I was contacted by one business [person] today who received a gas bill with an unsustainable increase of over €40,000 over the course of one month. They are now expected to pay over €44,000 for a month,” he said. “This is absolute gouging. Government has to respond or this business will be closing its doors, along with many more if these bills are being replicated.
“We need direct payments to businesses and families to deal with these energy price hikes and Govern-ment TDs cannot be allowed to be com-mentators anymore, they must lobby for direct action.
“We are demanding swift and immediate action from the government to take the pressure off and alleviate the hardship that these obscene and outrageous energy price hikes are inflicting upon people. We believe that, as a starting point, a three-pronged approach should be adopted by government, involving a windfall tax on excessive profits, an immediate maximum price cap on energy bills, and the extension of the fuel allowance for low and middle income people and families. These represent significant measures which will help to get people through the winter and beyond.
“The market is clearly out of control so we need a Covid-style emergency response from the government that will keep people warm this winter. Government Ministers are on the record as saying that these price hikes are unprecedented – so an unprecedented, urgent and short-term response by government is needed. Nothing less is good enough,” he said.