Thousands of Irish families owe almost â¬90 million in gas and electricity bill arrears following more than a year of Covid-19 curbs, official figures show.
Regulators will lift a temporary ban on energy suppliers cutting off customers on June 1st, but warn that debts grew during lockdowns which closed businesses and left hundreds of thousands out of work.
Figures from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) show that household gas and electricity bill arrears reached â¬88 million in the first three months of this year.
The total contrasts with the â¬63 million in arrears that households owed to electricity and gas companies at the beginning of 2020, before the virus outbreak prompted the Government to shut down large parts of the economy.