Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Sherlock. The intention of these amendments is to target the payments towards the person using the electricity and to cover tenancy agreements that perhaps include the cost of the electricity in the rent. For operational reasons, the scheme can only credit the domestic electricity account.

The scheme will apply to domestic electricity accounts using their unique MPRN to allow the payment to be credited to individual bills automatically without the need for application or approval. Using electricity bill infrastructure, it is not possible to determine whether individual premises are used for purposes other than the principal private residence. While the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage have engaged on this matter, the scheme can only credit the domestic electricity account.

The majority of the approximately 300,000 tenants who are registered with the RTB are domestic electricity account holders. Others would have tenancy agreements where tenants pay their actual share of each bill and, in those cases, will benefit from the payment because the amount of the bill will be reduced by the payment. A small proportion would have other arrangements in place where electricity costs are part of the rental cost.

At the moment, it is likely that some landlords have contracted tenancy agreements that are inclusive of bills and electricity costs. In that case, they are going to be undercharging for electricity. Energy costs have risen at an unexpectedly fast rate and they are now expected to be sustained rather than short term. Therefore, in those situations where all utilities are included or electricity charges are included in a fixed rent, it is likely that the landlords, in this particular circumstance, have been absorbing the electricity price rises because they cannot raise the rental increases in a rent pressure zone by more than the 2%. With the support of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is working closely with the RTB on a public information campaign to ensure that any tenants, and these are expected to be a small minority, for whom electricity is not separate from the overall rental cost are aware of the scheme and the entitlements. It should be said that to legally require the landlord in those cases to pass on the electricity costs emergency benefit payment to his or her tenant would be unfair to any landlord who is actually paying more for the electricity than he or she is charging the tenant.

Disputes relating to tenancies covered by the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2022, including any terms relating to electricity payments, can be referred to the RTB for dispute resolution. Section 78 of the Residential Tenancies Act prescribes a non-exhaustive list of matters or complaints that can be referred to the RTB for dispute resolution. I encourage tenants to examine their tenancy agreements and if it is appropriate, refer a dispute to the RTB for resolution. The proposed amendment also appears to apply to living arrangements other than tenancies covered by the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2022. Some renters reside under a rent-a-room arrangement and I understand that the rent payable, in some cases, can also cover electricity. Again, the homeowner, similar to the landlord, is likely to be undercharging for electricity in some cases.

With regard to local authority tenants, to the best of my knowledge, the standard practice in local authority tenancy agreements is for local authority tenants to set up their own electricity accounts. In these instances, where the local authority tenant has set up an account in his or her own name, he or she will receive the credit and the local authority will have no role. In cases, there may be an exception to this where management fees might be paid for apartments to include utilities. In these instances, should a dispute with the local authority arise, local authority tenants should raise this with their local authority in the first instance and the Ombudsman can examine complaints relating to local authorities.

I cannot accept the amendment. My officials will continue to liaise with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on this matter. I understand that officials in the Department are keeping the matter under review. Budget 2023, of course, includes a new rent tax credit as part of the package of cost-of-living measures. This is a new €500 tax credit for private tenants who are not in receipt of other State housing supports such as the housing assistance payment, HAP. This is another example of how budget 2023 cost-of-living measures complement the scheme. On the issue of payments to Travellers, the Government is absolutely committed to ensuring that every Traveller family receives the full amount of the electricity credits, just as any other family in the State will. Those payments will be made through the local authorities, with which my Department is liaising, in the same timeframe within which everybody else's payments are made. The first payment will be made during November and December this year. People have different billing anniversary dates during that two-month period. The second payment will be made during January and February of 2023 and the third during March and April.