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

One of the things we do every year is meet with people who are representatives of those living in energy poverty and those who are directly affected by it. One of the things they say to us is that they did not want to have large arrears building up on their electricity accounts where they have prepay meters. This amendment proposes to remove all arrears limits on prepay meters. As with the previous electricity credit scheme, prepay customers will have the payments credited to their accounts and suppliers will engage with customers regarding arrangements for this. Suppliers will notify customers of how to avail of the credit and when the payment is credited by sending them a text.

In August of this year, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, announced the reintroduction of the specific customer protection measures for the coming winter to strengthen the existing protections in place. The strengthened consumer protection obligations on suppliers mandated by the CRU include the following. First are extended debt payment periods of 18 months minimum. Second is reduced debt burden on pay-as-you-go top-ups. A maximum of 10% of a single customer vend can be put against debt. On a €20 top-up, for example, only €2 can be put towards debt repayment if it exists rather than the €5 which was previously the case. Third is better value for customers on financial hardship meters by being automatically placed on the most economic tariff. Fourth is promotion of the vulnerable customer register. Last is a moratorium on disconnection for registered vulnerable customers between 1 November 2024 and 31 March 2025 and for all households between 9 December 2024 and 17 January 2025.

Electricity suppliers also have supports available. Emergency credit can be provided to customers and supplier hardship funds can be accessed by pay-as-you-go customers in the same way as billpay customers. Electricity suppliers are working with the Money Advice & Budgeting Service and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on this matter. Customers will be offered emergency credit of €20 once their balance reaches a certain point, providing more time to purchase a top-up. Additionally, customers will not be disconnected during credit-friendly times, that is, between 5 p.m. and 10 a.m. on weekdays. No customer will be disconnected over a weekend. Any emergency credit provided will be paid back from future top-ups. Any customer in need of additional support may apply for an additional needs payment, provided by the Department of Social Protection, including customers on pay-as-you-go meters who have a need for financial assistance to facilitate their continued energy supply.Every effort will be made to ensure that these vulnerable individuals in financial distress who qualify receive an additional needs payment on the same day, or as soon as possible where it relates to electricity and heating expenses.

Finally, I must stress that it is not possible to remove arrears limits from accounts completely. The electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland operate under European law. Regulation of retail prices in the electricity market ended in 2011 and in the gas market in 2014. Price setting for electricity suppliers is a commercial and operational matter for the companies concerned and for those reasons I cannot accept these amendments.