Ms Michelle Murphy:

Absolutely, and there is a role for the CRU in looking at the issue of the poverty premium in general. It goes back to the point made by Deputies Bríd Smith and Alan Farrell on the prepaid meters and whether they should be phased out. I do not like the term "lifestyle meters" because people do not have a choice. There is also an age premium and a premium just because people do not have the capacity to go online and are prevented from getting some of the savings from switching. I echo the point that incremental fees need to be addressed. Switching will not fix this.

With regard to how to measure the data and the impact of retrofitting on energy poverty to date, we do not have a good way to do this. There is a role for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the CSO in this. Two months ago, the Parliamentary Budget Office published an interesting document on climate budgeting and examining the allocations in the budget that go towards climate action. We do not measure their impact even through Departments. The document makes good suggestions on how this might be improved. Certainly this is something the committee could consider. There are some straightforward suggestions in it for Departments and public bodies on measuring the impact and the outcomes and looking at the amount we are putting in. We should be able to measure the increase in retrofitting and reductions in energy poverty.