Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The idea of a low-usage Electric Ireland customer changing to a new supplier is not a runner. Is the Minister willing to suggest to the ESB that there are many other ways of saving the same amount of money without pegging it on the customer? The simplest answers to this problem are to cut down on administration and get the customers in question to accept electronic billing. There is no point in reading a meter that has no charges on it. The ESB has known for years which low-use customers, such as those with holiday homes, are involved because it has an averaging system to anticipate usage. This charge and the reasons given by the ESB for it are unjustified. Will the Minister ask the ESB to examine alternative ways to make savings which, with the co-operation of the customer, would cut down on administrative and meter-reading costs?

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