Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for facilitating my participation in the meeting. Like everyone else, what we have heard this afternoon is compelling and harrowing. We all know local publicans, restaurateurs and hoteliers that have experienced upheaval in their way of life in the past 12 months.

I want to touch on a few points and I will try not to repeat what others have said. A few people talked about utilities standing charges. I am speaking with regard to gas and electricity. I have been dealing with a number of businesses at constituency level. I met with Ms Fitzgerald Kane and her colleagues in the Irish Hotels Federation. I have been doing some work on this. In the past week I have been in contact with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, and it came as somewhat of a surprise to me that it operated a scheme last year from 1 May to 31 July. That period was the peak of the first wave of Covid-19 when pubs, and virtually everything else, were closed. The CRU operated a temporary supply suspension scheme. Within that scheme 200,000 electricity customers and 27,000 gas customers would have been eligible to apply for this support. Of the 27,000 gas customers, only one in 12 availed of it, and of the 200,000 eligible electricity customers only one in 20 availed of it. I was flabbergasted by that. I contacted the CRU during the week to ascertain the reason this scheme was not still operating because as we have heard many businesses, pubs in particular, are now in their 13th month of closure. It cited that it was due to lack of take-up. I would say it was due to a lack of information because the few businesses around me at home were not aware of this scheme or were not fully aware of their eligibility. It is shocking that, one year on, this scheme has been discontinued.

Various people told us earlier that the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, the commercial rate suspensions and all of the different supports are valued yet more is needed. There is no magic wand but it is unforgivable that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities would still not have fully grasped this problem. I will read some figures into the record. The utilities bill for one month of a hotel nearby me at home was €9,700 and only €4,500 of that related to usage.

That is a colossal standing charge, which is absolutely crippling. Bearing in mind that the CRSS provides a maximum of €5,000, it is unsustainable. Could Mr. McGann explain why members of the Vintners Federation of Ireland have not fully availed of this or are they all not qualifying for it? Perhaps he would respond to that and I will have other questions for other representatives.