Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 15 February 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Commission for Regulation of Utilities Strategic Plan: Discussion

Ms Aoife MacEvilly:

It is fair to say that there would not be instant name recognition for CRU. However, we have stepped up some of our advertising activity because it is important that customers know that they are protected and that they have rights - rights as vulnerable customers, rights to complain and rights to be protected against disconnection. That is something we will build on.

Generally, it is important that they get the information at the point where they need it. For example, how one makes a complaint to CRU is on the back of every customer's bill. One goes through the initial stages with the supplier first and then the customer comes to us. We will step up our activities in that regard because it is very important that customers know there is somebody on their side. I agree that just because it has not come up as a specific complaint to our team it does not mean it is not happening. We are genuinely interested in understanding if there is a pocket or an issue out there that has not been brought to our attention. We would be very grateful for some insight on that so we can look further to see what is going on.

I will ask Ms Kavanagh to speak about what information has to be given by the prepay suppliers about how the product works. However, I will say that I do not believe we are at a stage of agreeing that there is a market failure regarding a premium product being charged a premium price, so long as customers really understand what they are getting into and that they have the right to leave if it is not a suitable product for them.

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