EU action needed as rising energy prices threaten Mayo households, says MEP

Households across Mayo could face rising heating costs following a sharp spike in international energy prices, according to Nina Carberry.

The MEP has raised the issue in the European Parliament this week, warning that many families in Mayo are particularly vulnerable to price increases due to the county’s heavy reliance on oil and gas for home heating.

Recent figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that 69 per cent of households in Mayo rely primarily on heating oil, while a further 5 per cent use gas.

Speaking from Strasbourg, MEP Carberry said European gas prices had risen by up to 50 per cent in recent days, while the cost of filling a 500-litre tank of home heating oil has approached €900.

“With the crisis in the Middle East escalating, we have seen how quickly international events can have consequences at home,” she said. “Local families and businesses will feel this, especially as most homes and companies are powered by oil and gas, which are massively volatile to international price shocks.”

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Carberry called on the European Commission to consider activating crisis measures to help stabilise energy prices across the EU, including the possibility of joint purchasing of energy by member states.

“We need to show the same level of urgency as we did during the outbreak of war in Ukraine,” she said. “That means the Commission must look at joint purchasing to bring prices down.”

She also said measures should be considered to separate the price of gas from electricity across the European market.

“When gas prices spike, electricity prices soon follow,” she said. “EU-wide action is needed to decouple those prices.”

Carberry added that increasing investment in European energy sources was essential to reduce dependence on imports.

“We currently spend up to €40 million every hour importing energy into the EU,” she said. “This is not sustainable in the long term.”

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She highlighted the potential of renewable energy sources such as biomethane and anaerobic digestion, noting that Ireland has the largest per-capita biomethane potential in the EU.

“We should look to follow Denmark’s lead, where close to half of gas demand can be produced from anaerobic digestion plants,” she said.

Carberry concluded that strengthening domestic energy production and improving energy resilience would help protect households and businesses from future global price shocks.