An elderly woman was sent an electricity bill for nearly €1,000 and said she “nearly dropped dead” after opening it.
Despite knowing that costs across Ireland are constantly on the rise at the moment, the 79-year-old said she was still shocked to see an owed balance of €969.98 on her account.
Speaking to Newstalk’s Moncrieff she said:: “I’m nearly 80 years old - I’m 80 years in November - and I nearly dropped dead when I got that bill.
“I always paid my bills when I get my pension - 20 or 30 off the gas or electric every week. Never miss [it] - the gas company or the eclectic company can see that.
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“I didn’t realise that they haven’t read my metre for over a year. So this was an estimated bill I got.”
Ellen, who lives on Navan Road in Dublin said she will have to contact her supplier and ask them to set up periodic payments for the hefty bill and says she can’t afford more than €50 a week.
“I have to talk to them,” she said.
“I didn’t get around to talking to them yet - I’ll have to talk to them about it to arrange payment because the most I could pay is €50 a week.”
She went on to talk about the many other necessities that have seen a hike in costs and said: “I’ve never in all my life seen anything like the cost of living. Bread used to be 69c, now it’s gone up to 79c.
“Marmalade and jams, they used to be 60 cents and then they’re going up to €1.25! That’s what we’re dealing with.”
She said she wishes they would stop raising the cost of living “because I live on my own” and said she feels for those who have kids and are working to try and meet these costs.
“But where do you leave children? With husbands and wives out working, paying mortgages and trying to feed a family of three even?
“That’d be five of them in the family… I feel very, very sorry for the younger people trying to earn a living and pay a mortgage.
“They say because of the war in Ukraine but it couldn’t be that much we’re not that short of food.”
Details of the latest support being offered by the government will be revealed later today as government mull over the next phase.
It is understood that the following measures could be brought in:
- A reduction of the VAT rate on energy from 13.5% to 9% - allowing for savings of €49 per annum on the average gas bill and €61 annually off electricity prices
- A boost for Fuel Allowance recipients - all 370,000 people on this support to get one lump sum of €99
- Public Service Obligation levy to be dropped from the autumn - saving people a further €58
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