John Whelan (Labour)

I spoke too early.

It is vital in the area of energy provision, just as in the provision of other resources such as water, that we not only address the challenges of generation and transmission but conservation and efficiency, which are equally important. It is to be welcomed that the Bill places a huge emphasis, as well as legal responsibility and responsibility, on energy supplies and distributors to fulfil and honour energy demand reduction targets. That is very important.

The Bill is also designed to address and consolidate measures in place to curb the theft of electricity and gas from the grid, which is important in terms of efficiency and an effective return on what is, after all, the State's investment and taxpayers money, in terms of the roll out of these utilities.

In a related matter, I commend the Minister for introducing the scheme last year whereby no energy supplier or utility would disconnect families, especially in view of the particularly harsh weather we had last winter. We escaped relatively lightly this year compared to our neighbours in Europe. I note in parts of Poland, where I have family, temperatures have fallen to -35° Celsius.

The new policy of working with customers rather than cutting them off is to be welcomed. Some utility companies were far too hasty in the past to disconnect families. Metering and pay-as-you-use payment plans can be used to assist families to manage their household budgets. I note Senator Cassidy's remarks on people being forced into a terrible situation of burning CDs and other such items.