Ms Issy Petrie:

Between us we touched on various areas of data on arrears. There is the CRU data that has come out recently, which showed higher gas arrears and high numbers of gas customers in arrears. The electricity arrears data shows a concentration of electricity arrears among fewer customers but with stability or even an increase in the amount of arrears. It shows that some people are really struggling on the electricity side of things. Our concern is about finding solutions for people so there is no legacy of indebtedness that will continue this year and go forward to coming years.

The additional needs payment from the Department of Social Protection is a very important part of this. There have previously been issues about accessing the payment, how quickly the payment comes through and eligibility issues. On the energy side of things an important point as well as eligibility is how quickly the payment comes through. People are in a situation where they are negotiating with a supplier or they are prepaid customers who need the credit. There are issues with speed. I believe there have been some improvements in the speed of some of the energy payments. I do not have more information on this with me and I am happy to provide it afterwards. We definitely see the additional needs payment as a very important point of intervention for people who have significant bills and are struggling to top up.

For people in arrears it is about making sure they are connected and integrated with all possible sources of support as early as possible when they are in arrears. This includes being signposted to MABS. There is the issue of communication and engagement with suppliers and making sure people feel able and are able to speak to their supplier, have all the information they need to do so, and can access discretionary credits or hardship funds to reduce their bills and bring the arrears down as far as possible.

The issue that then becomes important is making sure repayment solutions are affordable and do not in themselves cause further hardship by being set at a rate whereby people cut back on something else to meet the repayment plan. This is something of which we are extremely aware. People might not have the heating on as much anymore, although some people will need heating. Repayments on arrears can themselves be an extra bill. This is an area where we need to see a policy direction and practice development from suppliers and the regulator as we go into next winter and deal with arrears from this winter.

We cost the fuel allowance and the working family payment as part of our pre-budget submission.

We have last year's figures and we will make our budget submission in the coming months.

We see the social tariff as going very much hand in hand with the fuel allowance. The fuel allowance is about protecting people's incomes and the social tariff is about ensuring there is affordablity and stability on costs. We very much see them working in partnership. While we do not think it is a simple thing that can be rolled out in weeks, it is an important mechanism to have. One thing that has been clear in the past year or so of the price crisis is that is very important to have these mechanisms in place for when we need them. They take time to put in place and their different implications and possibilities need to be teased out but they become tools to reach people in a targeted way when we need to do so. We need to do so at the moment, so that exploration needs to take place.