Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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163. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he intends to take steps to introduce legislation to provide greater powers to the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities to give greater protections to customers of energy companies and to ensure that price gouging by energy companies is not permitted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12334/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and gas retail markets was assigned to the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) under the 1999 Electricity Regulation Act.

As regards its role in price determination, in line with long standing policy on deregulating price setting, CRU ended its regulation of prices in the retail electricity market in 2011 for electricity and in 2014 for gas, respectively. Given that prices are no longer regulated, they are set by all suppliers as entirely commercial and operational matters by them. Each such company has its own different approach to pricing decisions over time, in accordance with factors such as their overall company strategic direction and developments in their cost base.

As part of its statutory role, the CRU also has consumer protection functions and monitors energy retail markets to ensure that competition continues to develop and for the benefit of the consumer. It also oversees non-price aspects of competition, and has, and continues, to take steps to increase transparency and consumer engagement in retail markets.

As part of its statutory functions, including under SI 630/2011, the CRU carries out various market monitoring and reporting functions in association with its responsibility to ensure that the market operates competitively for the benefit of the consumer. It monitors the level and effectiveness of market opening and the development of competition in the supply of electricity and gas to final customers, including whether the development and operation of competition in the supply of electricity and gas is benefitting final customers. Under the SI, the CRU may take actions that it considers necessary to ensure that final customers benefit from competition in the supply of electricity and gas.

The CRU is accountable to a Committee of the Oireachtas and not to me as Minister. The CRU has a dedicated email address for Oireachtas members to contact them at directly: oireachtas@cru.ie.