The owner of a family run store in Glounthaune who received a €24,000 electricity bill this week says she believes several businesses will be forced to close in the coming months.
The bill sent to Fitzpatrick’s Foodstore covers the first two months of the year and is ten thousand euro more than the same period last year.
Owner Kerri O’Neill says the bill- which arrived on Tuesday and is due to be paid today- highlights the difficulties facing businesses at the moment.
She has also highlighted how increases in the cost of ingredients such as butter, sugar and flour are pushing up the price of items they produce in store.
Speaking to RedFM News, Kerri O'Neill says continued government supports are needed to help businesses:
"All of the things that have been coming up businesses, even leading from COVID to coming out of COVID and staff shortages, to then electricity hikes, and then food ingredients. I believe that we're going to see more and more businesses close. And that's why, you know, bottom line here, people need to be really smart about how they're doing their business and that's why, you know, I said to someone, I took down 20% of the lights in the ceiling in my shop, hoping that nobody would notice and they're soon enough lacing for customers to see all the products".
