Mr Gannon told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that the increase in standing charges, which will mean an average rise of €100 to domestic bills, is to cover the cost of maintaining the network

Small commercial customers of electricity suppliers will also face increased charges over 12 months of almost €155.

Internal emails showed although staff had expected bills to rise, they were surprised by the "very significant" increase

77-year-old Gerry Clarke has been charged almost €1,700 for his bill from December  9th to February 12th

The Consumer Price Index rose by 7.8 per cent between January 2022 and January 2023