A Cork East TD says the government must introduce a price cap on energy bills - to prevent businesses in Cork being forced to shut their doors for good.
Deputy Seán Sherlock says the government must act to take pressure off businesses, and to ease the hardships that "obscene and outrageous energy price hikes" are causing ordinary people.
Yesterday, wholesale gas prices shot up by as much as 30 per cent, after Russia confirmed that gas deliveries to Europe have been suspended indefinitely.
Speaking to RedFM News, Deputy Seán Sherlock says there are three moves the government must make to help get people through the winter.
"The first is a price cap, the second is a windfall tax on energy companies, and the third is introducing a third band of the fuel allowance, so that people who don't qualify for the fuel allowance on their current income would have a second band so there would be a tiered fuel allowance coming into the winter period.
"That would alleviate the hardship for a lot of families, where they're over the threshold for the current fuel allowance, to ensure that people can meet the costs of heating their homes this winter."
