Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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70. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will outline the engagements, if any, the Commissioner for the Regulation of Utilities has had with energy providers here to ensure reductions in wholesale prices are passed on to customers; the measures he will take to ensure that the super-excess windfall profits of those companies for all of 2022 will be captured in the planned windfall tax measures and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19966/23]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister if he will outline the engagements, if any, the Commissioner for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, has had with energy providers here to ensure reductions in wholesale prices are passed on to customers and the measures he will take to ensure that the super-excess windfall profits of those companies for all 2022 will be captured in the planned windfall tax measures.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for the question. Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices came into force in October 2022. This regulation seeks to address windfall gains in the energy sector through a temporary solidarity contribution based on taxable profits in the fossil fuel production and refining sector and a cap on market revenues of specific generation technologies in the electricity sector. The general scheme of the energy (windfall gains in the energy sector) Bill 2023, which will implement the temporary solidarity contribution and the cap on market revenues, was approved by Government and published on 21 March.

The cap on market revenues in the electricity sector will apply from December 2022 to June 2023. The Council regulation does not provide scope to extend the cap on market revenues prior to this period. The temporary solidarity contribution will apply for 2022 and 2023.

The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, was assigned consumer protection functions under the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 and subsequent legislation, and has statutory responsibility for the compliance by energy suppliers with their consumer protection obligations. Electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland operate within a European Union regulatory regime, wherein electricity and gas markets are commercial and liberalised. Operating within this overall EU framework, responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and gas markets, including the matters raised by the Deputy, is solely a matter for the CRU. The CRU is answerable to the relevant Oireachtas committee.

Like the Deputy, and I am sure all the other Members here, we are very keen to see prices come down, with international gas prices having started to come down from their historical highs. This must be done within the liberal market system, as we said, but I, like the Deputy, look forward to this happening. It is, though, a matter for the CRU to oversee the market directly in this regard.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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That is the most pathetic answer I have ever heard. The Minister has responsibility for this area but he is acting like a commentator. As far as I can see, energy companies are laughing at him, the Government and the regulator, which the Minister refuses to resource and empower. By extension, these companies are laughing at ordinary customers. This is not something I cannot stand for. The companies in question are reporting record profits, charging the highest prices in Europe, as reported, and, according to this morning's newspapers, engaging in sloppy billing practices. Some 11,000 Electric Ireland customers have not received bills. A number of these people have not received a bill for four months. This is a deeply concerning issue. These people will receive bills for thousands of euro next month. Will the Minister update us concerning what he is doing to respond to this issue? Will he ensure that people will not be penalised because of the mistake made by Electric Ireland? What will he do to protect them?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The systems we have in place, including the CRU, are designed to protect consumers exactly in the way the Deputy outlined. In recent years, where there were instances of bill amounts not being correct, refunds were given to the customers involved as soon as the errors were discovered. The CRU's regulatory context, like those of so many of our other regulatory bodies, has been dramatically increased in the past two years to ensure that it has the capability of overseeing that function.

This Government's role is, first and foremost, to make sure there are no excess profits being made. The introduction of the proposed legislation last month, which will give rise to some of the highest tax rates of any European country in this regard, is an example showing that we do take this duty of protecting the consumer to the maximum extent we can. Those revenues, which will be lower than may have originally been expected, because gas prices have fallen, that accrue from the market cap will go back to electricity customers, because we, like the Deputy and every party in this House, wish to protect consumers through this difficult time.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I have two questions. What engagement has the Minister had directly with energy companies to ensure the reductions in wholesale prices are passed on to customers? Equally, and the Minister referred to this in his initial response, the cap on market revenues is wholly inadequate. It does not capture any of the bumper profits companies made during last July, August and September. A price of €92 per megawatt hour is profitable for wind and solar energy suppliers. Those companies were getting more than €400 per megawatt hour. Other countries, such as France, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium, have introduced measures to go back and to target those super-excess profits garnered prior to December 2022.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach responded to me during Questions on Policy or Promised Legislation by saying that the Government would look at this issue. Will the Minister commit to looking at this approach as an option, to ensure energy companies do not wipe the eyes of Irish taxpayers?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We will look at every option, but whatever we do must be within European law. We cannot enact measures-----

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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France operates within European law.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We will look and see, as I said, at what other governments have done. We must ensure that what we do is within European law. To answer the Deputy's first question, I met representatives of every one of the 13 supply companies we have over the past year of this crisis, and paid particular attention to what they were doing to protect their most vulnerable customers. People at risk of being cut-off are those we must favour first. We must ensure these companies' billing and customer relations systems treat people in a way during this extraordinary period which means they are not cutting off customers and that they have funds in place, which they do, for hardship cases-----

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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Some of them have not received a bill in four months now.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As I said, if there are any instances of that happening, where a bill has not been received, it is the job of the regulator to ensure that those companies do meet their commitments and statutory requirements, which the CRU does regulate.