Ms Aoife MacEvilly:

I will start by going through the types of prepay options available to customers at the moment. We have financial hardship meters which are available to customers who get into debt. By definition those customers are struggling to pay their bills and this is offered to them as one option but it is not the only option. They may also choose payment plans or different ways to address the debts they are in. If they choose a financial hardship meter, they are not paying a premium. The financial hardship meter is provided by ESB networks. The cost is socialised in the same way that all standard metres are socialised meaning we all pay for them. There is no additional cost charged to those customers. There is no additional price increase associated with those customers. Those customers switch to the prepay option with the same tariff that they would have been on with their supplier beforehand, whether it is a standard or a discounted tariff. There is no differential in the unit cost.

We also have what we call lifestyle choice prepay options. It is a competitive market offering. Some of the bigger suppliers offer it and there are a couple of dedicated prepay suppliers. Those are at the customer's choice. Those suppliers are offering a premium product. They tell us that they are also supporting customers with better information to help them reduce their overall costs. They tell us that where we see a standard estimated annual bill for the year, their customers do better than that because they reduce their consumption based on the information they get. Either way, that is a choice for that customer. The supplier handbook sets out that when those companies are signing customers up to that product, they are required to explain to them the additional cost associated with the product. Obviously, those customers also have the choice to switch away from those suppliers or switch between those suppliers at any time. That right is grounded in law in addition to the protections we have put in place in the market.

The Deputy mentioned rental properties where there is a lack of choice and we would like to understand that a bit better. When a customer is renting, they are still the final customer. They are the account holder with whoever their supplier is. It is absolutely their right to switch supplier. If there happens to be a prepayment meter installed when they move in and they want to switch to another prepay offering, it is their right to do so. I checked with our customer care team to understand if we were aware of cases where rental customers were somehow being prohibited from switching. That has not been brought to its attention through complaints. If there are examples of this, we can also write to the Residential Tenancies Board to reiterate that it is not appropriate for a landlord to dictate what supplier or product a customer would choose. It is not something that has come to our attention.

We understand that customers with financial hardship meters face challenges. We know it is particularly difficult at the moment because when they are paying their credit, they are usually paying down debt. It is not all of them; some of them may have cleared the debt. The remaining credit will not stretch as far given current high prices. That is why we support Government interventions such as the €200 electricity credit and so on.

I want to be clear that those customers are not paying a premium. The prices relating to prepay offerings are made clear to customers who are paying what we would show in our annual energy market monitoring report as high prices and they have choices about whether that is the right option for them. Many customers really like that option because it avoids them getting into debt. That is ultimately a key selling point for those. They are not getting into debt and have control. They are not being hit with bill shocks, which is a big problem for many customers on bill pay at the moment, and they are in control. That is effectively the offering that those suppliers make.

Ms Kavanagh might like to talk more about the protections for vulnerable customers.