While the news that Energia is to increase its prices from the middle of next month is unwelcome and will heap more pressure on hundreds of thousands of Irish households, it should come as no surprise to anyone.

In increasing its domestic energy prices by between 5 and 10 per cent, Energia is following the lead of all the other providers in the State, and there is little that consumers can do about it.

It is not, of course, just domestic gas and electricity prices that are climbing.

Chambers rejects equalising inheritance thresholds Budget 2027

The cost of a litre of diesel is set to pass €2 on many forecourts over the coming days, while 500 litres of home heating oil is now close to €800 – hundreds of euro more expensive than it was at the start of the year.

As well as exerting pressure on consumers, the raft of price increases is also putting the Government under increasing pressure.

As we come closer to Budget 2027, questions about what measures Minister for Finance Simon Harris will have planned for households struggling to get through the winter are only likely to get louder.

It is, perhaps, unfortunate that the person who is singularly responsible for rising energy prices countrywide – and indeed in most other countries – is the very one who will have to be greeted with all the fanfare the State can muster this weekend.

In January, before US president Donald Trump launched his military misadventure in the Middle East, a litre of motor fuel cost about €1.70 while 500 litres of home heating oil was averaging about €490. The price of domestic gas and energy was comparatively stable and it would have been hoped consumers might have been spared price hikes in 2026.

Budget 2027: All you need to know

But the world order was turned upside down at the end of February, and prices have skyrocketed since then. It is hard to see them falling while the conflict between the US and Iran continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint, which is why the Government might have to step in to support people.

Maybe Taoiseach Micheál Martin might have a quiet word with Trump when they meet in Farmleigh.