Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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561. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to surcharging costs being applied to consumers on pre-paid energy schemes; the engagements he has had on this topic and with whom; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5449/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and the natural gas markets is a matter for the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) which is an independent statutory body. Pay As You Go meters are offered free of charge to energy consumers experiencing financial difficulty. Since their introduction in 2011, more than 180,000 electricity and gas PAYG meters have been distributed. These meters have proved to be effective in helping to reduce disconnections and CER has reported a 56% fall in electricity disconnections, and a 22% fall in gas disconnections, between 2011 and 2015.  I understand the CER views Pay As You Go meters as contributing significantly to this improvement.

I believe that in light of the assistance that Pay As You Go metering is providing to households under financial pressure, it is critical that these households do not incur any additional charges for availing of these meters. However, I am aware that some retailers are charging surcharges to top-up payments for Pay As You Go meters for electricity and I deplore this practice.

Officials in my Department have met with the providers of these systems, retail representative groups and a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), particularly the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) and Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) specifically on this topic.

Payment providers have assured my officials that the practice of surcharging is explicitly forbidden in the contract retailers must sign on accepting a payment terminal. Additionally, they advise that the level of customer complaints they receive is low but that they are working with energy suppliers to investigate and address persistent problems. They are also working to mitigate the problem through proactive support of those retailers who aren’t engaging in the practice. They do this through the provision of promotional material that can encourage customers to use retailers who do not apply surcharges and in the case of repeat offenders, payment providers have the ability to withdraw a payment terminal.

The CER has also been working to address this problem by engaging with energy suppliers and has written to suppliers to remind them of their obligations to prevent this practice. My officials have requested that the aforementioned NGO's keep the Department appraised of any growth in the practice of surcharging. Should I received evidence that the practice is becoming more widespread, I will instruct my officials to engage further with the industry to determine how the issue can be addressed.