Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The first message we have to give to people is that, yes, we have to be smart and clever, but we also have to stay warm and comfortable through the winter and protect everyone's health. No one should be getting any message that involves restricting that comfort and basic health. The CRU appeared before the Oireachtas committee yesterday to addressing questions in respect of this and other issues. It is important, however, to give confidence to people, particularly the most vulnerable, that they will not be left in a situation where they do not have those basic comforts. There will be a moratorium on disconnection for vulnerable customers. It has been extended from 1 October to 31 March.

That moratorium is for all domestic customers. It now extends to the end of February. There will be an extended debt repayment period. From 1 November, debt repayments plans will be extended to give households a minimum of 24 months to repay debt. There will be reduced debt burden pay-as-you-go top-ups. New measures mean that debt repayment levels will be reduced to 10% from 25% on pay-as-you-go customers' top-up payments. For example, on a €20 top-up, only €2 will go towards the debt repayment instead of €5.

I will make two final points. There will be better value for those on financial hardship meters. All customers with a financial hardship meter will be put on the cheapest tariff from their supplier from 1 December 2022. Electricity suppliers must actively promote the vulnerable customer register. I could go on. There are other measures. This month, we will deliver a scheme that we introduced and that is taking time to deliver. It means that for those at highest risk who may depend on medical equipment, we will take specific measures in the houses identified. All of that is an important signal to give to customers not to turn off the heat or lights. We will all manage carefully but we do not want to see anyone going cold, lonely or at a loss.

On standing charges, as the CRU stated yesterday, this is not an issue over which it has regulatory control. We have to do a review. Earlier in the debate, we heard about what is being done in the European Union. There is a wider approach where we are looking at the whole-market systems and regulatory system. That cannot be done quickly or easily. An entire energy market cannot be completely changed in a week or two.

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