Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government does not want disconnections this winter above all else. As the Deputy said, for winter 2022 the usual one-month pause on disconnections for non-payment has been extended to three months, from 1 December 2022 until 28 February 2023. For vulnerable customers, the pause on disconnections for non-payment has been extended to six months, from 1 October 2022 until 31 March 2023. I understand that work is now being progressed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, to waive the fee to enable people to switch from pay-as-you-go to bill pay in order to avail of the protections for vulnerable customers.

The Minister has met industry representatives. The understanding is that it is an industry standard not to disconnect at weekends. Emergency credit is available to get people through until they can again purchase credit. In respect of engagement, the entire objective is that no-one will be disconnected and emergency credits can be made available. The most recent additional protections that have been put in place by the CRU in respect of pay-as-you-go include debt repayment levels being reduced from 10% from a previous rate of 25% and the €20 top-up, for example. These are additional protections by the CRU but in terms of social protection, the additional needs payment is always there for anybody who is in difficulty in order for them to get additional funding to top up, as well as engaging with the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, which also has a pattern of engagement with the energy companies.

As part of their codes of practice, companies do not want to disconnect anybody and there is a way to prevent that. There are also the budget measures we introduced, which are quite significant, between now and the end of the year. The annual cost-of-living double payment will commence on 17 October from which approximately 1.4 million people will benefit.

A double child benefit payment will be made on 1 November to 639,000 families in respect of 1.2 million children. The fuel allowance lump sum of €400 will be paid the week commencing 14 November and 371,000 people will benefit from that. A payment of €200 will be made to people who are in receipt of the living alone allowance, commencing on 14 November. A €500 cost-of-living payment will be made to those in receipt of the working family payment. These payments will commence on 14 November and 44,000 people will benefit. A disability support grant of €500 will commence payment on 14 November. A further 216,000 people will benefit from that. There is also a €500 carer's support grant to be paid in the week commencing on 21 November. The entirety of the measures we provided for in the budget and which will be rolled out and paid out to people from now until the end of the year will provide strong capacity and back-up to people who are in difficulty in respect of income or anything else in topping up their payment mechanisms.

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