The Sinn Fein leader said it is “clear there has to be an intervention” after Storm Eowyn caused chaos last month and left over 760,000 premises without power – with around 17,000 still in the dark today.

‘People already pay too much’ – McDonald fumes at ‘ripoff’ ESB price as CEO warns customers could pay MORE after Eowyn

Furious customers in impacted areas have vented their frustrationsSinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald raised the issue to Taoiseach Micheal Martin in the Dail and has called for a Government intervention.

Addressing the Dail she said: “The CEO of the ESB stated that the cost of repairing the damage to the network caused by the recent storm would be borne by customer in their bills.

“We have previously discussed the hardship that has been wrought by the storm. That so many of the ESB’s customers went without power for weeks, indeed some 17,000 remain without.”

She continued: “Remember over the last four years ESB customers have been squeezed by ripoff prices among most expensive rates in the European Union.