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Setting up home in Ireland – energy suppliers, broadband, mobile, the €160 TV licence and bin rules

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

Keys in hand, you now need an electricity supplier, a bin company, broadband and – if there is a television in the room – a €160 TV licence. Here is how each works in Ireland in autumn 2026, what changed this year, and the bill lines worth checking.

Smiling woman unpacking a cardboard box on a sofa in a new home
Photo: Syda Productions/Adobe Stock

Your Irish home comes with accounts to open and rules of its own. Electricity and gas are private markets with a regulator, not a council service; bins are collected by a private company you choose; and a television – even one used only for streaming – needs a €160 TV licence. The 2026 news is on the bill: the 9 per cent VAT rate on electricity and gas runs until 31 December 2030, and from 1 October 2026 the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy falls by 66 per cent.

How do you set up electricity and gas in Ireland?

Electricity supply is privatised: you choose a licensed supplier, while ESB Networks runs the wires and meters and Gas Networks Ireland the pipes. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) regulates both and lists 15 licensed suppliers, seven of which – Bord Gáis Energy, Electric Ireland, Energia, Flogas, PrePayPower, SSE Airtricity and Yuno Energy – sell both fuels to households. Read the meter the day you move in, then contact a supplier.

How long disconnectedWhat to do
Less than 6 monthsRegister with a supplier, which arranges reconnection with ESB Networks
6 months to 2 yearsRegister with a supplier and have a registered electrical contractor certify the wiring first
More than 2 yearsApply to ESB Networks for a new connection

Source: Citizens Information, read 24 September 2026.

Gas is not available everywhere, so check the Gas Networks Ireland network map; internal pipework must be done by a Registered Gas Installer, and you are not liable for gas used by the previous occupier. A supplier may take a security deposit under a policy that must be fair, transparent and reasonable, returned in your final bill after the contract ends, usually after 12 months.

What will your electricity bill look like?

Bills normally arrive every two months. Most domestic tariffs are variable-rate, and the end date of a fixed-term contract must appear prominently on every bill.

Bill itemWhat it isStatus in 2026
VATTax on the whole bill9 per cent, extended to 31 December 2030
PSO levyLevy on every electricity customerFalls 66 per cent from 1 October 2026, to €0.51 a month
Network chargesESB Networks costs passed throughAbout €41.25 (€3.44 a month) added to a typical bill from 1 October 2026
Carbon taxTax on home heating fuels€71 a tonne since 1 May 2026
Electricity creditGovernment payment to households€250 in 2024 and 2025; none listed for 2026

Source: the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and Citizens Information, read 24 September 2026.

Switching supplier and your rights as an energy customer

Switching is free and the new supplier handles it: you need the MPRN (Meter Point Registration Number, 11 digits) or GPRN (Gas Point Registration Number, 7 digits) from your bill and a current meter reading. A 14-day cooling-off period follows a switch, 30 days for doorstep sales. A complaint goes to the supplier first, which may take up to two months; the CRU (1800 404 404) steps in only after that.

If anyone in your home depends on electrically powered medical equipment, register as a vulnerable customer with your supplier; under the Energy Engage Code a customer who engages about debt is not cut off. For winter 2025/26 the CRU barred disconnection of any household for non-payment between 8 December 2025 and 16 January 2026.

Broadband and mobile in Ireland: contracts, switching and roaming

ComReg, the communications regulator, sets the rules. A fixed-term contract cannot exceed 24 months, you must get a binding Contract Summary before you sign, and the provider must send an end-of-contract notice and best tariff advice before a fixed term ends.

RuleBroadband and home phoneMobile
Longest fixed term24 monthsBill-pay up to 24 months, SIM-only typically 12, prepay none
Cooling-off14 days online or by phone, 30 days doorstep, none in-storeThe same
Who runs the switchThe new provider, using your Universal Account Number and EircodeThe new provider; keeping your number is free
Loss of serviceNo more than one working day, with compensation for problemsThe same
At the endA router you keep costs at most its depreciated valueHandset unlocked free on request; unused prepaid credit refundable

Source: ComReg and Citizens Information, read 24 September 2026.

Prepay credit is bought in shops, at some bank ATMs or online with no contract, and the official pages describe no identity-registration requirement for prepaid SIM cards. Since June 2017 calls, texts and data in the EEA cost the same as at home, but since January 2021 the EU roaming rules no longer cover the UK.

Do you need a TV licence in Ireland?

Yes, for any set capable of receiving a broadcast signal – including a smart TV used only for streaming and one that no longer works – but not for a computer or phone that cannot receive a signal by aerial, cable or satellite. A licence costs €160 a year and covers every set in the house; each flat needs its own. A foreign licence cannot be transferred, tenants need one whether they or the landlord own the set, and the fines run up to €1,000 for a first offence and €2,000 after that. Buy it at any post office, online or by phone on (01) 705 8800; a first licence runs to the end of the 11th month after the month of issue.

Home insurance is optional – but read the small print

No law obliges you to insure your home, though a mortgage lender will normally require buildings cover, and a tenant can buy contents cover alone. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission says insure for the rebuild cost, not the market value: policies carry an average clause, so insuring 75 per cent of the value pays only 75 per cent of a claim.

Bins in Ireland: a private collector, three bins and the bottle deposit

There is no municipal bin service. You sign up with a private licensed collector, which must collect at least fortnightly and, under the bio-waste regulations in force since 31 December 2023, must give every household a brown bin and new customers a kitchen caddy with compostable liners. Flat-rate charges were abolished between autumn 2017 and autumn 2018, so you pay by weight or per lift for general waste.

BinWhat goes inThe rule
BrownFood and garden wasteSeparating it is a legal duty for households
GreenPaper, cardboard, rigid and soft plastics, tins and cansClean, dry and loose
BlackGeneral wasteCharged by weight or per lift
No binAnything with a battery or plug; bulky itemsRetailers take back electrical goods free when you buy a replacement; batteries go in the blue boxes in shops

Source: Citizens Information and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, read 24 September 2026.

Dublin City Council collects no domestic bins itself; it lists six private operators – Greyhound, The City Bin Co., Panda, Thorntons Recycling, KeyGreen and Ecoway – and its waste line is 01 222 2222. Burning household waste is an offence. Since 1 February 2024 the Deposit Return Scheme adds 15c to plastic bottles and cans of 150 to 500 ml and 25c to those over 500 ml up to 3 litres, refunded in shops; glass is outside it.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Read the meters and open electricity and gas accounts in your own nameThe day you get the keys
2Order broadband with your Eircode and read the Contract SummaryIn the first week
3Buy a TV licence if there is a set in the homeBefore you switch it on
4Sign up with a licensed bin collector – in Dublin, one of the six the council listsBefore the first bin day

Source: the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, ComReg and Citizens Information, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.