Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 156:

In page 103, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “(a) in subsection (3) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (j)—

“(ja) shall promote the interests of consumers by providing information in relation to price increases in the energy and fuel sectors,”.”.

I am hopeful the spirit of agreement which has broken out recently will continue. We shall see. I submitted amendments Nos. 156 and 160 to enable me to converse with the Minister of State on the need for the CCPC to promote the interests of consumers by providing information on price increases in the energy and fuel sector. This is a topical subject. The CCPC already undertakes this type of activity in respect of the financial services sector and promotes the interests of customers by providing information concerning financial services. The CCPC does great work, but what I am interested in hearing the Minister of State comment on is if he thinks that work could be expanded slightly to cover the energy and fuel sector. In the context of the current energy and fuel crisis, consumers would be open to receiving easily understood and digestible information regarding price increases in the sector.

Turning to amendment No. 160, during the past 18 months when energy and fuel costs were rising and international experts and analysts were predicting further rises, little by way of information was provided for consumers. Often, the information consumers get is that the price has gone up, after that has happened. With that in mind, consideration should be given to tasking the CCPC with undertaking analyses, studies and surveys on energy and fuel cost increases and publishing the information, which will only benefit customers.