Energy poverty in Ireland

Behavioural Insights for Policy series: Primary research

Year: 2025

Topic: Energy poverty, Everyday energy behaviours

Methodology: Survey

Author: SEAI Behavioural Economics Unit
 

Summary

Sharp increases in energy prices due to the recent energy crisis layered into a broader cost-of-living crisis have brought the topic of energy poverty further into the mainstream of academic and policy spheres. Tracking energy poverty over time and targeting supports requires first choosing an appropriate measure. While there are many ways to measure energy poverty, little is known about how these measures interact and overlap, how they vary at different times of year and how they relate to energy behaviour. There is currently no consensus on a best measure.

This report uses the rich dataset generated by Ireland’s Behavioural Energy and Travel Tracker (BETT) to provide a detailed picture of the groups of people in Ireland who are more vulnerable to energy deprivation, the seasonality of some aspects of energy poverty, and its multidimensionality.

Our analysis supports critiques of the 10% expenditure measure of energy poverty as a blunt instrument and highlights the strengths of subjective measures. A number of recommendations for policy and communications are made based on the findings.