The manager of a West Cork hotel says the Government need to understand the situation facing many business as the cost of energy soars.
Neil Grant from the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery was speaking after the hotel received a bill of over €18,200 for electricity for the month of July.
The bill for the same month in 2019 was €7,700, increasing to €8,300 last year, however the manager of the 66-bed hotel says he was shocked to find the bill had increased by almost €10,000.
The ERSI say they expect more energy providers will hike their rates in the coming months after Electric Ireland announced their combined gas and electricity price would increase by almost €1,000 a year.
Speaking to RedFM News, Neil Grant from the Celtic Ross Hotel says not everyone will be able to retrofit their business to save money:
"We are actually in the process of projects which will hopefully make us even more energy efficient, which hopefully will be up and running in the next few weeks. The cost of retrofitting and the cost of trying to take on initiatives in the case of massive cash flow, and a lot of businesses aren't cashflow rich at the moment. They're looking into the winter months and they're saying we're going into the leaner months now. In terms of making a big cash injection to your business, you might not be able to afford it and then the grant processes are so complex."
