Where is the cost of living crisis exactly?

There’s going to be an alarming number of house fires this winter caused by people, many elderly, lighting candles instead of turning on electric lights.

How many times a week do you use your washing machine? Has it ever once gone on fire?

One day you will realise living on a modest pension you haven’t much spare at the end of the week

Jesus, that is epic scare mongering.

Elderly people are not simpletons.

Some may even avail of cheap rechargeable 5 volt torches which give off more illumination than a 100 candles.

Or maybe even a low wattage lamp.

If there's talks about rationing fuel, can anyone explain why bus eireann is getting away with driving empty buses 13 km?

I cycle to work in the mornings because I don't have any other way into work in the mornings. The bus journey goes from A to B and B to A with stops between (I don't want to give away where I'm from), but it's a 13km journey. So while I'm cycling my route, an empty bus leaves town and passes right by me, only to have a bus ready to start at the B location. But doesn't pick up passengers at all on the way.

Surely, something like this shouldn't be allowed to continue with possible fuel shortages?

I personally so far am only getting hit mainly on petrol, electricity, heating electricity, groceries, the odd take out. I don't really go to the pub anymore (can't be arsed). My rent has been the same for a good while.They way I live I don't really need any services/jobs done by skilled/semi skilled trades.

But afaik anybody buying materials or and paying tradespeople are getting stung big time. Materials are gone up globally and add in the fact that our defacto warehouse the uk is taxed an additional 25% ish.

Nearly all the big ticket items come from or via the UK . Most businesses are still operating this way. Cars new and old, building supplies, industrial supplies, you name it ..it comes from the UK. Shipping costs have skyrocketed...so think about gobal and European shipping to the UK. European goods are taxed comming into UK and taxed going out from UK into Ireland. It's a clusterfxxk for Ireland and for UK businesses into Ireland.

Once better trade routes are established..ie more ferries and cargo ships directly to the continent, and substantial warehousing of goods comming directly from the continent OR NI can prices be seen to slacken. These things take time.

And what has that got to do with the ability to supervise a candle?

I'd love to know how anyone reckons it's cheaper to light your home with candles. They're not cheap.

You can do f all by candlelight.

Increase in energy costs will impact manufacturing costs significants .. eg. The power used at factories for production lines for both raw materials and final produce, heating offices & factories, cooling food production storage, transport costs of moving raw materials and finished produce .. then the cost of storage, cooling and heating of the shops and shopping centre. The suppy chain is so long, and every one of those links in the chain will increase costs to cover energy and fuel costs.

The basic weekly shop will jump, luxury items will be left out of the weekly shop.

Household items such as toasters, bed linen, cutlery etc. Will become expensive, and probably people will think twice about buying these unless they are really nessesary. Clothes & shoes prices will increase, there will be less mad shopping sprees.

Cars prices will rise again in 2023, some people who traded up every couple of years, will hold onto their 3 year old car for another year or two.

All these small cost saving practices across most households will have a huge impact on the economy.

I don't know if working people on lower salaries are entitled to rent support through HAP ?? but if they dont, I can totally see why they would jack it in and move to welfare, where they seem to be protected by the state (and i,m not talking about disability, carers or sick welfare).

Not an EV, but a 2023 €70k diesel SUV is currently on order, and my mortgage free house was upgraded over the past 10 years bit by bit, so no retrofitting required. But thanks for asking teddy.

Roll back there, in 2016 peat plants gave 8%.

It's not small. The problem with your I'm alright Jack attitude is it doesn't take in to account the bigger picture.

For anyone scared of heating costs this winter, you should get an electric blanket.

They're cheap to buy, cheaper than heating the room, keep you warm enough, and use very little electricity.

You can get ones for the bed and also ones you can wrap around yourself, like a comforter when you're sitting on the couch.

Just a thought.

That's probably one of the most tone deaf comments I've read here in a while.

No one should be running incandescent light bulbs in 2022. LED bulbs are cheap as chips and cost pennies to run. The payback period is weeks compared to incandescent and a few months to CFL

Lighting takes very little energy nowadays.

Heating is where the bulk of the energy is consumed in most houses.

Happens a bit, I know the same thing happens in Bruff county Limerick at least twice a day, 6 days a week