Heating a home in Ireland typically accounts for around 60% of a domestic energy bill, with the balance spilt evenly between heating water and electricity. Photograph: iStock

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As we head into the darker and colder days of the year, energy bills are going to start climbing and people will be wondering if they are getting good value for money or are if they are being gouged by suppliers.

They might also find themselves asking what they can do to stop the cost of heating and lighting their homes going through the roof.

First things first. Are we being ripped off when it comes to electricity and gas?

That is a big question. We are certainly paying more for heat and light than folk in many other countries. Speaking in the Dáil earlier this week, the Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, accused suppliers of price gouging and the Government of doing nothing to help.

But the Government did help when it came to prices, didn’t it?

It did, but that sentence is very much in the past tense. Between April 2022 and February 2025, there were nine energy credits worth €1,500 given to Irish domestic energy customers. The measures costalmost €3 billion and that high cost might explain why there was absolutely nothing by way of credits for anyone in the recent budget.

And earlier this week, Taoiseach Micheá