Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I will read some headlines for the Taoiseach. One from RTÉ states, "Prepay energy customers will not be cut off, says Taoiseach", while another from the Irish Independent states, "Pay-as-you-go energy customers will not be disconnected over winter – Taoiseach", and thejournal.iestates, "Taoiseach confirms pay-as-you-go utility customers will not be disconnected if unable to top up". This is very clear and reassuring for the 340,000 electricity customers and the 120,000 or so gas customers on meter. The headlines are based on comments that the Taoiseach made on RTÉ's "This Week" programme. It would cause people to breathe a sigh of relief and think it was okay, in that, if they do not have money to put in the machine to top up the meter this winter, their lights will not go off or their heat go out.

The only problem is that those comments are not accurate, are they? They are spin such as that the Taoiseach tried to give earlier to Deputy McDonald. He is just playing with words because the truth, and I ask for a clear answer on this, is that as things stand, these people will be cut off electricity or gas when their meters run out of money and they run through the €20 overdraft known as emergency credit. These are among the people on the lowest incomes in the country and include 90,000 households that have previously experienced electricity debt. They are not being protected from disconnection this winter. Instead what the Government is actually saying is that these people can go to the community welfare officer and look for support. There is no guarantee that they will not be disconnected.

The Taoiseach needs to act now to guarantee that nobody will be left without heat or electricity this winter because they cannot afford to pay. He can do that very simply by extending the emergency credit, as was done during Covid.

This scandal is just the latest abuse by the prepay companies of their customers. They are highly profitable companies engaged in predatory practices. PrepayPower is the biggest prepay operator. It is owned by two of the richest men in Ireland. It increased its profits by 27% last year. It increased its prices three times this year and two times last year. If people want to leave PrepayPower, they are faced with a blizzard of potential charges amounting to well over €100 to dissuade them. The companies are effectively holding people hostage. Those exit charges should be banned entirely.

This is only one section of households subject to extra abuse. There is another. I have received multiple communications from people in apartment complexes on district heating systems. One here is from Lansdowne Gate, where gas prices have increased by 300%, unit rates have increased from 7 cent per kilowatt hour to 27 cent per kilowatt hour. Tens of thousands of people are in a similar situation. Even if they do not use the bills, they are still faced with extraordinary increases because of the network service charge which goes on top of the standing charge. The Taoiseach tells them to shop around but they cannot do so. These people have no choices. It is an entirely unregulated sector.

This is clear. It proves the madness of a privatised, liberalised system. The energy system should be renationalised and run in the public interest. At the very least, will the Taoiseach intervene to ensure that nobody will have their lights go out or heat cut off this winter because they do not have money to put in the meter?

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