{"id":16593,"date":"2026-03-23T16:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=16593"},"modified":"2026-03-23T16:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:49:10","slug":"wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\/","title":{"rendered":"Wholly inadequate energy support package is deeply concerning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>The government is using its own ineptitude as an excuse for its failure to roll out comprehensive targeted supports\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Social Democrats deputy leader and finance spokesperson Cian O\u2019Callaghan has expressed deep concern that the government response to the energy crisis is going to be wholly inadequate.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy O\u2019Callaghan said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has taken this government nearly a month to respond to this escalating energy crisis \u2013 and I am now deeply concerned that tomorrow\u2019s belated response is going to be wholly inadequate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile a cut to excise duty, to provide relief at the pumps, is welcome, there is so much more the government should be doing to target supports at those who are struggling the most.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt appears that the only targeted measure that is under consideration is a double fuel allowance payment \u2013 amounting to just an additional \u20ac38 for vulnerable people. This is a derisory amount and is nowhere close to bridging the affordability gap that so many people are experiencing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven before this latest crisis erupted, 320,000 households were in arrears on their energy bills. That is hundreds and thousands of people all over the country who simply can\u2019t meet soaring energy prices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor months now, the Social Democrats have been asking the government to introduce a targeted \u20ac400 energy credit for the 800,000 households who are struggling most, based on household income.\u00a0This measure has been fully costed, at \u20ac362 million, and would provide real support to people who need it most.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Government constantly say that they support targeted measures \u2013 and yet they are failing to target supports where they are needed most. I am appealing to the Government to adopt our proposal so a meaningful level of support can reach those who need it most quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The government is using its own ineptitude as an excuse for its failure to roll out comprehensive targeted supports\u00a0 Social Democrats deputy leader and finance spokesperson Cian O\u2019Callaghan has expressed deep concern that the government response to the energy crisis is going to be wholly inadequate. Deputy O\u2019Callaghan said: \u201cIt has taken this government nearly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11216,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[278,539,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cian-ocallaghan","category-energy","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wholly inadequate energy support package is deeply concerning - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wholly inadequate energy support package is deeply concerning - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The government is using its own ineptitude as an excuse for its failure to roll out comprehensive targeted supports\u00a0 Social Democrats deputy leader and finance spokesperson Cian O\u2019Callaghan has expressed deep concern that the government response to the energy crisis is going to be wholly inadequate. Deputy O\u2019Callaghan said: \u201cIt has taken this government nearly [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-23T16:49:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Cian-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1165\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Press Officer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Press Officer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Press Officer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/70fcd60661593532616f9f91a0fb8db7\"},\"headline\":\"Wholly inadequate energy support package is deeply concerning\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-23T16:49:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":296,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Cian-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Cian O'Callaghan\",\"Energy\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wholly-inadequate-energy-support-package-is-deeply-concerning\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wholly inadequate energy support package is deeply concerning - 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