Customers of Electric Ireland will see their bills rise by almost a quarter from 1st May.

The firm, which is the retail division of ESB said residential electricity prices will increase by 23.4% and gas prices by 24.8%.

These increases translate to €24.80 (£21.03) per month on the average residential electricity bill and €18.35 (£15.56) per month on the average residential gas bill.

Marguerite Sayers, Executive Director of Electric Ireland, said: “We are acutely aware that the rising cost of living is causing difficulty for households across the country.

“Unfortunately, the unprecedented and sustained volatility of wholesale gas prices over the last 12 months means that we now need to increase our prices.

“We delayed the increase as long as we could in the hope that wholesale prices would drop back to early 2021 levels, but regrettably this has not happened.”

According to figures published on its website, Electric Ireland supplies electricity, gas and energy services to more than 1.2 million households and 95,000 businesses in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.