Dr. Tricia Keilthy:

Energy poverty is determined by a person's income, the energy efficiency of their home and the energy costs. We have spoken about income and energy efficiency but prices are increasing. Ireland has some of the highest gas and electricity prices in Europe. One of the main reasons for that is our reliance on imported fossil fuels. As we move to more renewable forms of energy, we might see a decrease in prices. In the interim it would be really important to explore the option of introducing social tariffs into the Irish energy market because other European countries have price caps for people on very low incomes for any future price hikes. St. Vincent de Paul would be particularly interested in advancing that.

We are fully aware that poor communities around the world are more likely to experience the negative impacts of climate change. That 10% of the wealthiest people in the world contribute to 50% of our carbon emissions means that we really need to consider how a tax on consumers is not proportionate to tax on the fossil fuel industry, particularly those in high polluting activities - the aviation sector comes to mind for its lack of carbon pricing. If we are really concerned about climate justice and a just transition we need to consider those particular aspects of carbon emissions and make sure they are proportionate.