Ms Cathy Mannion:

On the question about the pay-as-you-go meters, by way of background, there are two types of customer and the price is different for them. One has those customers who for reasons of financial hardship receive a pay-as-you-go meter from ESB Networks and Bord Gáis Networks. For those customers the price is the same if not cheaper than the standard tariffs offered by those suppliers. There are other suppliers on the market whom I will not name but the committee probably knows who offer pay-as-you-go meters for lifestyle choices. People who take those meters tend to pay more for their electricity than those who have meters installed due to financial hardship. Those customers have made a lifestyle choice and have decided to go with those suppliers and therefore implicitly have decided to pay those charges.