Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 5, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: “Final customer not occupier

3. (1) Where, in respect of a domestic electricity account, a person other than the final customer is liable to make payments to the final customer in respect of sums due under that account, the final customer shall ensure that the benefit of an electricity costs emergency benefit payment is transferred to and received by that other person.

(2) In a case where the persons referred to in subsection (1)are the landlord and the tenant of a dwelling to which the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 applies, a dispute between them arising from that subsection may be referred to the Board for resolution under section 76 of that Act.”.

On Second Stage of the Bill, I raised the issue that this amendment concerned those who are, for example, tenants in rented accommodation who pay the landlord directly for their electricity rather than paying the electricity provider. The amendment seeks to ensure such renters would have the benefit of the credit passed on by the landlord. Currently, if the landlord pays the bill, it will be up to him or her whether he or she passes on the benefit. That was the case for the previous electricity credit earlier this year. Therefore, on Second Stage, I asked whether the Department had gathered any data on the number of cases adjudicated by the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB where a dispute arose as to who should receive the energy credit in a rental household. Again, subsection (2) of the amendment seeks to address that point concerning disputes around the benefit of the credit and that those can be referred to the RTB for resolution.

This is a particular issue in my constituency in Dublin Bay South where we have double the proportion of households in private rental accommodation to the national average. It is, therefore, a real issue for many of the people I represent. The key issue for us is this point about when the final customer is not the occupier, which is the issue the amendment seeks to address. We are asking the Government to examine how best to ensure renters receive the full sum of the credit owed to them. This amendment seeks to address that.

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