Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

The Government had a number of options to alleviate the cost of electricity facing families, older people, people with disabilities, carers, small businesses, etc., but the option it chose was to pay the electricity credit. Other options mentioned included capping the prices charged by energy companies, nationalising those companies trading in Ireland, a windfall tax on energy companies or taking extra dividends from these companies to support people who need it most. These options were not seriously investigated. I hear what people are saying about blank cheques but a €600 blank cheque from every household is going to these electricity companies over the next four or five months anyway. Certainty is key here. If you talk to people in small businesses and corner shops, they are seeing their bills rise and do not know what their next one is going to be. They do not know how they are going to be able to cut down on their bills. They have fridges in their shops. Which ones do they switch off for the winter? All these questions are coming to mind. Certainty is really important for people so that they know it will be at that level for that period. I do not believe people would use electricity in an over-the-top fashion. This was the argument made in respect of water charges. It was argued that people were using water excessively. When the commission looked at the matter, it found that they were not. It found that we were actually more prudent than most European countries regarding the amount of water we used.

The cap was a really important policy to look regarding keeping them at 2021 prices. They have done this in other countries. It is expensive but what we are doing here is also expensive. Energy companies are benefiting from the credit. The Government will have to come back next year because while once-off payments will buffer for a period, despite the €5.6 billion in additional public spending and taxation measures, the majority of people will be poorer. The ESRI has stated that, as has the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. It is not just people in here who are saying it. People are number crunching the outcome of the budget. The reason this will happen is because workers are not getting pay increases. Increases in social welfare payments to pensioners and social welfare recipients were not enough to keep up with inflation. That is the case. People will be facing into next year with increases that do not meet inflation. Inflation this year has been about 8.2%. Next year, it is expected to be at 7% so that means that the money coming into people's pockets is not matching what they need.

Thousands of workers who have not received wage increases will have to start putting in demands for them. I met a young girl who works for a small book publisher. The company increased the price of all its schoolbooks by €2.

When she looked for a pay increase because she is under pressure paying rent, she was told her employer could not afford it but would get a pilates instructor in at lunchtime to relax the workers and that might help their anxiety over rent, food prices and energy prices going up. For groups like lone parents, when the once-off energy payments are stripped away, this will entrench these households and their children deeper in poverty. Social welfare recipients will receive core welfare payments and this is a recipe for growing poverty and deprivation. A €15 minimum wage is a necessity, workers need to put in pay claims to at least match inflation and social welfare payments should be index-linked with a relevant economic indicator.

There must be an unambiguous declaration that no one will be without electricity through arrears, inability to pay a bill or not having money to put into their pay-as-you-go meters. The majority of people with pay-as-you-go meters had them installed because they had difficulty paying their bills and these meters are supposed to be more financially manageable. This has not proven to be the case in many instances. The fees for switching from pay-as-you-go to bill pay must be eliminated for everybody. The universality the Minister of State mentioned regarding payment of credits must be matched by universality in not having one's electricity cut off or having to pay for switching from pay-as-you-go to bill pay. That is important and if the Government does not do it, many people will face serious situations in their homes.

I have been raising this issue for months. Earlier, a Sinn Féin Deputy made the point about the additional needs payment scheme waiting times. That is the case. People have to wait. They have to make the application, and payment is not immediate. I have been making the point that community welfare officers, as they were pre-austerity cuts, should be in the community permanently, or at least two or three days per week, so workers on low incomes, people on social welfare and people facing a crisis in buying food or heating their homes have immediate access to these officers. It has been taken up by the Minister, who says they are in the Intreo offices. They are, but they are behind closed doors or thick walls and it is hard for people to access them. The Minister did an advertising campaign. That campaign needs to be reactivated in order to let people know they can access community welfare officers.

On the additional needs payment scheme, there was provision for bedding and clothing in circumstances of a fire or emergency. The clothing allowance should be brought back for people who need it, particularly older people.

I support the amendments, particularly those relating to pay-as-you-go and on the functions of the commission in relation to prepay customers.

The Government must ensure that holiday and vacant homes do not receive the electricity credit and that those in the Travelling community and on halting sites are not left behind. It must commit to universality of payment for those members of our community. I ask the Minister of State to go into detail on how the up to 1,000 travellers on halting sites will get the credits. He mentioned local authorities so I ask him to expand on how that will be done and communicate that to the Travelling community, whose members need to access that money.

The Minister of State mentioned a vulnerable customer register. How many people know of this register? I propose the Government produce an information leaflet on these issues, about what people can do, where they can go and what they are entitled to, and distribute that to every household in the country so people know what they can access and that pay-as-you-go customers will not be left without electricity.

Will people who apply for the fuel allowance in January 2023 be able to access the €400 extra provided for those on fuel allowance at the moment? People who apply in January and get the allowance will miss that €400 payment from November. Will that be given to them in January?

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