Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One in eight homes is now in arrears on its energy bills. This includes homes in County Carlow. Further electricity cost emergency benefit payments are very welcome. I welcome the three €150 benefit payments to be made in December 2023, January 2024 and March-April 2024. These are very important, but the continued high level of global energy prices is causing massive problems for every household I am disappointed that the delayed Bill on the windfall tax only covers the six months between last December and June of this year. It does not reflect the fact that the energy companies have been hiking up their prices since September 2021, six months before the conflict in Ukraine began. We need full transparency on the profits of energy companies. Customers who have struggled with rising energy costs over the past two years, including those who come to my clinics in Carlow, deserve that information and it should be publicly available.

They also need to see better reductions. I am concerned that there is a mechanism for an electricity supplier to refuse electricity cost emergency benefit payment to a customer. However, I welcome that there is a mechanism for a customer to request a review on or before 30 June 2024, stating the reasons the customer wants the refusal reviewed. It that is really important for me. Several customers have been on to me about that.

Some constituents in Carlow told me they did not get the previous measures because their home was above a commercial property and as such, they were not able to avail of the supports even though they lived over it. I got worn out contacting the company; I got no joy whatsoever. However, now at least we are getting some clarity on that because I have seen cases like that where people were living over a commercial property. It was their home but they were told they did not qualify for it. I welcome that this will be addressed.

While arrears are very difficult especially for families, I am aware that overall, there has not been a significant fluctuation in arrears over the past 12 months. While disconnections have increased slightly since the end of the moratorium, they are still lower than they were in 2021. I welcome that nobody will be disconnected this winter. However, the energy providers need to do much more for those in arrears. It is not simply enough to tell them that there is a hardship fund if they see somebody repeatedly in arrears. They need to look at ways to support, retain and reward those customers for their loyalty and to assist them. The priority must be that the most vulnerable are protected. It is important to stress that nobody should go without electricity or gas. If people are struggling with energy bills, the most important thing is for them to keep in touch with their energy suppliers. That has to be the main issue.

Research by organisations such as the ESRI has recognised that Government supports over the past year have helped people. When anyone who needs additional support for their continued energy supply tries to apply for additional or exceptional needs payments from the Department of Social Protection, they are often refused. It is a nightmare. They need bank statements, information on what they pay out and information on what they have. We need to have a better system. I am in constant contact with the Department of Social Protection and I know the officials are doing their best; I am not giving out about them. However, there must be a better system, especially when we consider that, according to the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, ACER, Ireland had the third highest household electricity prices and the seventh highest household gas prices in 2022. We have to help those who are in need and the most vulnerable. I know the Government is doing its best with all these once-off payments, but the suppliers need to do more.

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