Ms Susanne Rogers:

I want to come in on the point on repayment plans. As Ms Petrie pointed out, traditionally they would have been stretched out over 12 months and no longer, putting people in genuine difficulty. Let us consider how far €220 per week will go in putting a roof over your head, putting food on the table, paying the heating and lighting bills, buying clothes, shoes and haircuts, paying for transport, the television licence and the bin tax, topping up your mobile phone and perhaps paying bank charges. People might have been putting €10 or €15 per week into the post office to manage their bills, but when they received massive bills it meant the volume of energy they were using was not covered by these weekly payments. In this regard, let us consider the circumstances of somebody who is €300 in arrears, built up over two bills. The energy companies generally do not let such a person go past two uncleared bills. After two, he or she is threatened with disconnection. The companies try to spread payments out over 12 months. Even arrears of €300 amount to an extra €5 or €6 per week. Considering that people might be on €220 per week, that is €5 or €6 on top of what they are already trying to pay. For many on a low income, even if they use the smallest amount of energy they can get away with using, it is still more than they can actually afford. While there is now a provision to spread payments out over a longer period, I echo Ms Petrie's view that this needs to be examined. We must ask whether a person can afford an extra €2 or €3 per week. If it takes the person a couple of years to clear the arrears, that is fine. Generally, where somebody has had three plans in a year, the company might not offer a fourth. It puts people under enormous pressure because if they do not sit within the plan, they get disconnected. That is how these things work. They must agree to the plan or have their supply cut off. This puts pressure on them to agree to plans that may push them to the edge such that, although they think they might be able to manage, one little knock or event in the 12-month period to Christmas could put them back to square one. Therefore, the companies need to be a little more creative in how they manage arrears without putting people out after two strikes or pushing unmanageable repayment plans on people that result in disconnection if not accepted.