Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the presentation. I thought I heard a report today about serious arrears levels among consumers. The CRU's statement seems to suggest arrears are lower than they were. Maybe we could have a comment on that. On the take-up of the smart meters, at the moment it is 7% which seems very low for such a large investment. What is the target for that? What percentage would represent success? I am surprised to hear that the majority of suppliers are offering better value if customers take a smart tariff. It seems extraordinary that all are not doing so and that the CRU would not be insisting on all suppliers doing so. Do the time tariffs being offered even by the more ambitious suppliers reflect the genuine savings to the system of spreading load?

It seems that in Ireland we have not had the same pressure on all of us to think about our usage as has prevailed in the rest of Europe. There was a target, and I think Ireland got some exemption from it. Should we be looking more at that area?

I congratulate everyone involved that we have not had energy difficulties during the course of the recent winter. I know our guests are doing more analysis but, at this point, do they reckon it is due to good practices which can be sustained into the future or was it luck that we cannot bank on? When the CRU says we have a 30% demand flexibility target, what does that actually mean? We have to achieve 30% of what?