Consumers are facing a 34 per cent increase in gas prices only days after rises of up to 20 per cent were predicted for ESB customers, writes Emmet Oliver.
Bord Gáis said that the average annual bill would rise from €902 to more than €1,200 when the increase is introduced from October 1st.
Business organisations and Opposition parties last night strongly criticised the latest increases.
Bord Gáis, which provides gas to the vast majority of homes in the Republic, said that "unprecedented increases in the price of wholesale natural gas in recent years" had led to the price rise, which it described as "hugely regrettable" but also "completely unavoidable".
The company claimed that, despite the increase, gas price rises in the Republic were below the current EU average. It predicted that prices would stabilise because of developments in the UK. Among these are new pipelines and the growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is shipped by sea.
Bord Gáis has been suffering some financial pressures recently because of the escalation in international fuel prices. Pre-tax profits were down 9 per cent in 2005, although sales were up.
Earlier this week, the chairman of the ESB, Tadhg O'Donoghue, said he anticipated electricity price rises of between 10 and 20 per cent to kick in from January 2007. He said that the increases were related to international price movements.
Householders are likely to be facing the lower figure of about 10 per cent, with corporate customers likely to face a 20 per cent rise.
The increases are related to Ireland's high dependence on imported fossil fuels. A Government Green Paper is due to be published shortly outlining policy responses to this situation.
Ireland's dependence on outside energy supplies will lessen if the Corrib gas field off Co Mayo is brought into production. Development of this has been delayed by protests. There are also plans to build an LNG facility in Shannon.
LNG is a natural gas which is converted to liquid form by cooling to a very low temperature of about minus 162 degrees. At this temperature it can be transported by ship.
The small firms lobby group Irish Small and Medium Enterprise (ISME) last night described the Bord Gáis increase as a "body blow".
The organisation's chief executive, Mark Fielding, said: "The increase will add an additional annual €13,000 to the costs of a typical SME, which simply is not feasible or sustainable."
The Green Party's energy spokesman, Eamon Ryan TD, said: "The Government must react to this shocking rise in gas prices with a radical new energy programme that will promote renewable energy and energy efficiency".
Bernard Allen, the Fine Gael spokesman on communications and energy, described it as a "betrayal".