2026-02-26

5. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection his engagement with the CRU, or energy providers, in relation to pay-as-you-go, or hardship metres; to detail the full extent of this engagement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15404/26]

My question relates to the engagement the Minister has had with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, or the energy providers, or hopefully both, in relation to pay-as-you-go meters, or as they are sometimes called, hardship meters. We had a discussion yesterday at committee in relation to a particular incident. I will not ask the Minister to comment on that but there is an issue of what I would call microdisconnections. If people on a prepay meter are on the vulnerable register, it is meaningless because they will get cut off.

I thank the Deputy. She was going to send me some details in relation to the case yesterday because I want to make sure that situation does not arise again. The lead role in relation to the engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities or energy providers in relation to pay-as-you-go meters is a matter for the Department of climate. While we have no function in this space, it is an area that we support people in. The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment has advised that the electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland operate within a EU regulatory regime whereby electricity and gas markets are commercial, liberalised and competitive. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities is an independent statutory regulator and is accountable for the performance of its function to the Oireachtas. That being said, our primary role as a Department is to provide financial support to those households that require help with energy costs. As regards to income supports, my Department provides a range of schemes to assist with costs. We have increased the fuel allowance this year. We have increased the qualification for the fuel allowance to those on the working family payment, which will kick in from this week on. Other forms of assistance include the household benefits package, the heating supplement and additional needs payments. I will engage with the Deputy in relation to the experience we discussed at committee yesterday. Arising from that engagement, I intend to update the guidance we issue to our offices around these pay-as-you-go meters, in particular. I also deal with them in my own constituency office. I recognise the challenges people using them face. I do not want a situation where people are without power unnecessarily. Supports should be given and made available to them. I look forward to working with the Deputy on this issue.

It is very expensive to be poor in this State, if a person finds themselves on a pay-as-you-go meter. I do not give a continental what the energy companies say. Many people are on those meters and they do not want to be. They either believe they have no choice or they are put onto them. They are then charged the most expensive rate of electricity. Thanks to my colleague, Lynn Boylan MEP, we learned in the newspapers yesterday that domestic customers pay twice as much for their electricity as data centres do. It is easy to see where the Government's priorities are there. The people who are on pay-as-you-go meters, who are likely to be the poorest people in any community, are paying a higher rate. They are - forgive me Cathaoirleach Gníomhach - getting screwed and it is really unfair. These microdisconnections are happening every day of the week. There has to be a rapid access system for people so that they can keep the lights and the heat on.

In relation to getting access to supports, I certainly want to work with the Deputy on that, particularly for the pay-as-you-go meters. I would be concerned about the rates that are charged on those meters. I will engage again with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on this. We increased the fuel allowance by €5 from the 1 January this year. That is a weekly payment of €38 for 28 weeks, which supports over 460,000 households with their energy costs and that will be an investment of €486 million. The household benefits package in 2026 million will be further €230 million. The heating supplement is there to assist people with exceptional heating costs. We had a good discussion at the disability forum yesterday about improving information and getting more information out about the heating supplement and I will be acting on that. As we discussed at the social protection committee yesterday, we have additional needs payments but we need to work on the consistency around those payments and I will work with the Deputy on that.

I welcome that. It is good work to be done but the question was specifically about the engagement the Minister might have had with the CRU or the energy providers. I appreciate that he is going talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and I wish him the best with that with. However, it would also be important that the Minister would engage with the CRU. I do not think people are engaging with this issue. I see it, and I am sure the Minister sees it in his constituency clinic as well. I am not talking about a massive number of people but for them it is important. The case I spoke to the Minister about involves a young woman with two kids. Her electricity was going off at 2 o'clock. She could not access those supports, so she would have been in her house, cold. These are facts but they are microdisconnections; they are very small. I encourage the Minister to engage with the CRU. There is no rule that says he cannot. The CRU is the body with responsibility for regulation in this space. The energy companies are - with the greatest respect - the ones who have the responsibility for gouging these people. At the end of the day, it is the Department of Social Protection that will pick up the bill. At this stage, if the Minister could intervene with both of those bodies, that would be a very useful way to engage.

I agree. I am happy to have an engagement with the CRU but, obviously, it is not statutorily responsible. We could have an engagement in the context that I do not have any role but I do think this is an important issue. There needs to be some sort of understanding of the pressure families and homeowners are under with these pay-as-you-go meters. There can be situations of what the Deputy calls microdisconnections where people are left without power and heat, with minimum notice. I will engage with the CRU around this and will emphasise the need for further engagement in this space. I will also engage with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who is generally very constructive on these issues. I want to point out that we have made investments in this area. A total of €486 million has been allocated for fuel allowance, with €230.5 million for the household benefits and the extension of the fuel allowance to those on the working family payment from this month on. This the first time the fuel allowance has gone to people on low incomes, which I particularly welcome.