“This is to ensure security of supply and to try ensure households aren’t faced with extreme swings in the price of their energy on a weekly or monthly basis,” he said.
“So the price households pay for their gas and electricity is usually an average price of the cost of energy on wholesale markets over the course of around a year or two. So you can’t really draw a direct line between the wholesale price of energy on a given month and retail prices,” Mr Cassidy said.“We’ll need to see a further and sustained reduction in the price of energy on wholesale markets before we can talk of smaller bills for consumers,” he added.
Some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to April were: fruit and vegetables , fish and fish products , grain, milling, starches and animal feeds and dairy products .The most notable changes in other producer prices in the year were: other non-metallic mineral products , beverages , wearing apparel , and wood and wood products .
Wholesale prices for construction products increased by 1.5 per cent in the month and by 11.7 per cent in the 12 months since April 2022. The biggest driver of costs in the cosntruction sector were plaster , structural steel fabricated metal and ready mixed mortar and concrete . The CSO statistics indicated that producer prices for products sold on the domestic market are now 7.8 per cent higher than they were in April 2022, with export producer prices falling by 1.2 per cent and overall producer prices falling by 0.7 per cent in the year.