Employers' organisation Ibec has warned that energy costs now pose a significant threat to the viability of many firms in Ireland.

Some will see their energy bills rise this year by between four and five times the level they paid last year, according to Fergal O'Brien, Ibec's director of lobbying and influence.

A publican stung by rocketing energy prices has described the rise in costs as "frightening" and Pat Crotty (pictured above) expects further hikes soon, which will mean a 230% rise on last year's power bills.

The increase in commercial energy prices was also described as "completely out of kilter" as well as "frightening" by Mr Crotty, of the Paris Texas Bar in Kilkenny.

"We've had an 85% increase already this year on last year, which means that at the end of July I had already spent more in 2022 than I'd spent in the entirety of 2021, and we're being told we're getting another increase which will take it up to 230% of last year's cost," he said.

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He fears there "may be more and worse coming", and added: "2% of my turnover would normally be what goes on energy; it's looking at 5% now and it may be 6% and it may be more. We just don't know but we're already at 5% and that's totally unsustainable."

As well as his own energy bills soaring, those of his suppliers have too, which means his food prices have gone up.

He told RTÉ's Today With Claire Byrne show yesterday: "Our insurance has gone up. Government tells us they're working to fix insurance; they haven't, and wages have gone up, everything has gone up, so it isn't just the one thing.

"But energy is the biggest single one and the Government is the biggest single winner from what can only be described as windfall profits from energy. If you asked Paschal Donohoe when he was writing the budget last year, what was the amount of money put down for income from tax on energy, and ask him what is the figure he has now...

"It's multiples of it and that needs to come back in, that's where he can help us. We just need the price of energy reduced to something that will not kill our businesses."

Restaurateur Michael Coyne, of Coyne's Gastropub, near Roundstone, Co. Galway, fears many businesses will close this winter and not reopen in spring. His answer to the crisis is for the Government to either cap or put some form of price control on energy costs.

He said: "A lot of businesses will have a look at the viability of their businesses through the winter months, and whether they choose to stay with it, because people aren't just going to work just to pay bills. In a time of crisis like this, something has to be brought in and it has to be tackled head-on before businesses start to close... and they will close down.

"People aren't going to work for nothing, we all have to eat. Are we going back to the time, say in the 1970s, where going out for a meal, even going for a pint, was a luxury?"

Mr Coyne also said that "this is going to hit everyone from the bottom to the very top".

He continued: "Every year it's becoming harder and harder. People like myself are not in it for the money but the love of it. We all have to eat but all I can see are the bills and getting the kids educated and happy."

At the launch of Ibec's pre-Budget submission, Mr O'Brien said: "Energy costs are now posing a significant threat to viability of many, many firms. This needs to be an absolute priority for Budget 2023."

Mr O'Brien cited an example of a large manufacturing company whose energy costs will rise from €20million last year to €100million this year.

He said in another case, a small retailer is facing a hike in energy bills from €50,000 in 2021 to €200,000 this year.

Given that the country is emerging from the pandemic, Ibec does not think the Government should be expected to address the full cost-of-living situation across the economy through fiscal policy measures. "So we do support a prudent but agile response from a fiscal policy perspective," Mr O'Brien said.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, and officials from Tánaiste Leo Varadkar's office met to discuss energy security, price and supply yesterday. The discussions focused on how energy costs could be reduced for businesses and households, but they did not finalise how this would be achieved.

Mr Ryan will attend an emergency meeting of EU energy ministers on September 9.