Ms Aoife MacEvilly:

I will start with the first question. Ms Trant has indicated that the average standing charge for a domestic customer is in the order of €350 and the average bill is in the order of more than €2,000. The vast majority of a customer's bill is not fixed or made up of the standing charge. There remains a compelling case to say that many customers will save by switching to a time-of-use bill. In our work plan this year, we will address further the question of how we can give customers better information to help them understand this matter and make such decisions. We will monitor the types of offer and try to ensure there is not the perverse incentive that the Senator outlined whereby some of the benefits would be reduced. Unfortunately, bills are so high at the moment that the standing charge is not a major part of it. It is down to the unit charge, but this increases the incentive.

Regarding the roll-out of smart meters, all meters are installed with advanced warning to the customers. Some customers say that they would rather not receive meters and their wishes are respected. There have been a small number of cases in which customers asked to return to the old mechanical meters. That is a challenge, as many of those meters are effectively obsolete. In some cases, they are no longer safe. The use of the older metering stock, which was overdue for replacement by the time we rolled out the smart meters, is being addressed in part by the smart meters. Does Ms Trant wish to discuss the few instances to which I alluded?