Over the past number of years, different electricity suppliers entered the Irish market. One of them was Iberdrola, which acquired approximately 30,000 customers, mostly businesses, in Ireland. The company has since left the country voluntarily. It posted a profit of €1 billion in the first quarter of this year. I can provide an example of a business whose owners I have spoken with about Iberdrola. It is Black Donkey Brewery in Ballinlough. The company finished its previous electricity contract . To enter a new one would, with the increase in electricity costs, have been 145% more than it paid before. In February, the brewery signed the contract with the electricity company in question. In March, the brewery started to have its electricity provided by this company, having used what is called a green energy provider to see where it could get the best price. Everything was going okay.

Funnily enough, Black Donkey Brewery heard via the media - I emphasise that it was via the media - that Iberdrola had left Ireland. The brewery received no word of this from the supplier. The owners went to their green energy supplier, not knowing what was happening, to see if they could get another supplier. Bord Gáis Energy was the only supplier that would provide electricity. Its cheapest rate was 16% higher than they were previously paying. The owners decided to sign a contract with that supplier but, lo and behold, a month later, they received a letter from the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, stating that Electric Ireland would be taking over Iberdrola's contracts and that customers would be obliged to pay 30% more than they had agreed in their original contracts. Those affected cannot get out of these contracts until 1 September 2022.

The data has been transferred without consent from the company in question. Everything about it has been given to Electric Ireland, and the CRU has done nothing about this. One part of the contract signed by the brewery states clearly that Iberdrola would have to give one month's notice, but this seems to have been bypassed completely. With the 145% increase and the subsequent rise in electricity costs, the brewery is facing close to 200% of an increase in electricity prices in September. Why is this happening and what is the CRU doing?

How can this be tolerated? In my book, a contract is a contract.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am informed that on 31 May, Iberdrola announced that it would be exiting the market in a controlled exit. I understand that while the company is profitable globally, it was not profitable when it came to its Irish operations. The supplier of last resort protocol was introduced. That is managed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. The primary objective is to ensure that customers' electricity and gas supply is not interrupted. Under this, all customers of exiting suppliers are transferred to the standard tariff of that gas or electricity supplier. Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy as suppliers of last resort for electricity and gas, respectively, were directed by the CRU to take over the electricity and gas supply of Iberdrola customers. ESB Networks and Gas Networks Ireland transferred the customers to Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy with no interruption to power or gas supplies.

Customers will remain with the supplier of last resort until 31 August 2022. The customer will then be free to switch from 1 September 2022. However, once the transfer process is complete, customers can renegotiate the standard tariffs with Electric Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy, both of which offer competitive rates. This is the same for business customers. The CRU has indicated that customers who were in the process of switching from their old supplier may need to check with their new supplier that the switch has been completed correctly. This is because when the customers are being moved from the existing supplier, any switches currently in process may be cancelled as part of the technical transfer to the supplier of last resort. The duration of term is determined by a number of factors, including the large volume of customers transferring, the requirement to purchase additional energy in the short term on the wholesale market and to allow adequate time to facilitate the registering of customers and the issuing of bills.

As Iberdrola made a commercial decision to exit the Irish market, it requested it be done through the supplier of last resort process as it was commercially unsustainable for it to continue to operate in Ireland. The timing of the decision taken by Iberdrola to leave the Irish market unfortunately left a limited window for its customers to switch supplier. While both Bord Gáis Energy and Electric Ireland will write to domestic customers within this period to offer them the opportunity to take a contract on discounted or improved rates, the key message to all customers is to contact Electric Ireland or Bord Gáis Energy once they have been transferred and have received communication from the new suppliers. If the customers do not wish to avail of the renegotiated rate, they can of course switch. The electricity and gas supplier handbook, which was recently updated by the CRU, states that the standard terms and conditions must include that a customer's personal information may be transferred to a supplier of last resort in the event of a direction from the CRU and any requirement which applies to customers in relation to safety or network-related activity.

When Iberdrola left Ireland, it did so voluntarily. It did not go bankrupt. It made a €1 billion profit in the first three months. Some companies have to take the hit in one place while they make money somewhere else. The Tánaiste said the CRU contacted Bord Gáis Energy and Electric Ireland. This company had a contract signed with Bord Gáis Energy and was told it could not use it. It had to go to Electric Ireland. Where is the process when there is supposed to be one month's written notice? Customers heard it in the media and did not even got a letter or notice from Iberdrola. The likes of Iberdrola is supposed to be putting €160 million into offshore wind in Ireland. Is it being let off scot-free from the Irish market because it has investments? What is the CRU playing at in allowing this to happen? The reality is that a small business in rural Ireland that employs people, not only having seen a 145% increase early on, but will now see a 200% increase at least in electricity and is being forced into the position that it cannot sign a new contract until September, when the Tánaiste and I and dogs in the street know that electricity is going to be dearer. Is this the way we are going to save rural businesses from losing jobs? That is not the way to treat a business. A contract is a contract and should be honoured.

I am probably not across this issue in the detail that I should be. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about it and will ask my office to make contact with the CRU to see if anything can be done. I know that no business or customer can be charged twice for the same unit of electricity. I suspect what the company did on this occasion was try to buy market share by selling below cost. It did not work out, it lost money and it has now decided to leave the State. I take the Deputy's point. Contracts should be honoured. If somebody engages in a deliberate strategy of trying to buy market share by below-cost selling, they should still honour the contract. The difficulty we have is that if somebody leaves, how can we enforce it if they are not here any more? Perhaps something can be done through the courts. I do not know. However, I will follow up on it with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the CRU to see if there is anything else that can be done.