Record 322,000 households in arrears while data centres and big business get subsidies
New figures from the Commission from the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) show that 322,298 households are now in arrears – more than at any point since available records began. Lynn Boylan MEP criticised the government’s lack of support for households – setting up a taskforce and axing the energy credit – to its approach to supporting […]
Government to hand €300m to big business while abandoning families to a ‘Taskforce’ talking shop – Boylan
The European Commission has approved a €300 million government scheme to subsidise the energy costs of big business. Lynn Boylan contrasted the swift action for big business with the can kicking of supports for households. Boylan compared the scale of the €300m subsidy to household supports, pointing out that the money being handed to big business […]
Hosepipe ban shows it’s one rule for us, another for data centres and big tech
While ordinary households are forced to restrict their water, data centres continue to guzzle millions of litres completely unchecked. Lynn Boylan MEP called on the government to end the blatant double standard and immediately pass laws forcing data centres to declare their water use. Lynn Boylan MEP said: “It’s incredible that the government slapped a […]
CSO report shows urgent need for government to tackle data centre issue
A new report from the CSO shows that Data centres are now using 23% of the electricity generated in Ireland. The report, which shows that electricity consumed by Data centres has risen by 1% since last year, and 18% since 2015, follows a number of recent reports that have highlighted the severe issues with data […]
Government inaction sees energy arrears increase again
Dublin MEP Lynn Boylan criticised the government’s failure to tackle the cost-of-living crisis following alarming new data revealing a massive spike in household electricity arrears. The data for March 2026 exposes worrying trends: · The figures show that there are 318,735 households in arrears. That’s the most since December 2025. The second most since the […]
Government must fully publish data centre report
Lynn Boylan has demanded that Minister Peter Burke publish the full data centre report, including the impact on household bills. Documents obtained by the Sinn Féin MEP for Dublin, under Freedom of Information (FOI) reveal that the Terms of Reference for the €100,000 report were heavily skewed to produce a predetermined outcome in favour of […]
Boylan slams repeated windfall tax failures from government
The government has ruled out imposing a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies here, and refused to support a similar motion at EU level it can be revealed. A response to a PQ submitted by the office of Lynn Boylan MEP revealed that when Simon Harris had the opportunity to support an EU […]
CRU arrears figures show a sustained and worsening problem
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan commented on the latest energy debt, arrears and disconnection figures published by the CRU earlier today. The figures, which relate to February this year, show a grim situation even without the impacts of the illegal attacks on Iran being factored into the data. The Dublin MEP said: “Arrears are at […]
Arrears figures show government approach to energy poverty isn’t working
The latest figures from the CRU show an alarmingly high number of people remain in energy debt that was shown in the last report. While there was a small drop to 315,000 homes in arrears, from 319,000 homes in the last report, this is still the second highest number since the illegal invasion of Ukraine. However, not only has the […]
Record number of families in energy debt shows real need for energy credits – Boylan
Just under 320,000 households were in energy debt as of December, according to new figures released by the CRU. The figure, which is well above the previous record of 307,862 is the highest figure ever recorded by the CRU. The fact that the government still refuses to introduce energy credits or supports while figures continue […]
