Ireland faces some of the highest energy prices in Europe. For the growing number of house households in energy poverty, the affordability crisis is not an abstract policy problem but a daily reality. Addressing it requires both immediate action and longer-term structural reform.

Since September, Trifecta Ireland has been developing a set of energy policy solutions designed to have a tangible impact within the next five years, while supporting longer-term electrification goals. We started with close to 180 potential solutions, drawn from a wide range of sources. Using an internally developed analytical tool, we identified the solutions with the greatest potential to improve affordability and support Ireland’s transition to a clean, secure energy future.

This month, we took that work outside the office for the first time. Across two workshops, we discussed and refined our proposed solutions with  TASC, Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI), the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI), Money Advice & Budgeting (MABS), Energy Cloud and Friends of the Earth Ireland – organisations with both rigorous policy expertise and deep knowledge of what these solutions look like in practice for the people most affected.

Next, we’ll take the same process to stakeholders from industry, asking them to stress test our energy solutions from a different lens. The combined feedback will then feed into our Affordability Ladder, a structured, sequenced set of policy recommendations for the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment and Minister Darragh O’Brien. We’ll present these recommendations to a Whole-of Network Session and Conference later in the year.

If you’re interested in our work, you can sign up to our mailing list and follow us on LinkedIn to get updates on the process!