Mr. Dave Kirwan:

I apologise for the stunned silence; we are not used to co-operating. In respect of the prices and how that flows through the book, it is as Mr. Dollard has outlined. It is a case of buying in stages and, even though we focus on the down sides, there are benefits to that. It means that neither we nor our customers see the volatility in the market. The overall view of Bord Gáis Energy at the moment, which is supported by the monthly index we publish, is that there is a confidence level that has been building in the market vis-à-vissupply and demand. Isolated events can change that. I mentioned in our report to the committee that it appears that Europe's largest gas field is constrained at the moment due to concerns around seismic activity. Events such as that do affect the underlying confidence. Hopefully the underlying confidence that there is excess supply to meet demand will flow through into the winter months of 2015 and into 2016. Bord Gáis Energy would like to be in a position to pass on the benefits to customers.

Mr. Dollard raises a very good point in respect of switching. I believe for the most part, for the people who have been in this industry a while, even before there was open market competition, the measure of success was considered to be a high level of switching activity, i.e., customers are aware of the choices that are being presented to them and are free to choose and move around competitors, which keeps us all on our toes. It is true to say that the Irish energy customer has really grasped that. The level of switching, as everyone has said here this morning, is greater than in other markets. It is very important that we do not forget the customers who are loyal to us. We would be mad to, to be quite frank. Bord Gáis Energy will be launching a campaign in the next number of weeks which will offer discounts to customers for staying with us and who have been with us. We hope that this gets a response from our loyal customers. Bord Gáis Energy was the first in the market to introduce a rewards club where customers can, by paying their energy bills, receive Tesco loyalty cards, which they can trade against grocery bills, or indeed their energy bills. These devices and others are being invested in to pay back customer loyalty. If customers come to us saying that they want to shop around Bord Gáis Energy will respond by seeking to keep their business.

In respect of large customers benefiting more than residential customers, the energy industry is a large volume low margin business. The way in which the industry is structured does benefit larger users with a larger volume. Even in respect of the amount of network costs that large users pay, it is less pro ratathan the residential equivalent.

Last week the Commission for Energy Regulation highlighted that industrial users in Ireland have benefited from falling wholesale costs more quickly than their European counterparts. There is a very sophisticated large user base in Ireland and they shop around and put us under pressure in respect of prospecting for the best product available. The Bord Gáis Energy trading team in Cork buys specifically for customers at their behest, and those customers can take positions. SMEs just cannot afford to take the positions that larger users do. The same would apply to the residential market. It is very competitive out there. SME customers are switching on an annual basis and they are shopping around.

It is a different kind of structure for smaller users but no less competitive.