Ba mhaith liom ceist a ardú leis an Tánaiste faoi na costais atá ag cur isteach go mór ar theaghlaigh. Tá an geimhreadh ag bualadh linn agus tá imní ar theaghlaigh ar fud an Stáit faoi chostais fhuinnimh. Tá eagla orthu go bhfuil praghsanna ag dul in airde agus in airde agus nach mbeidh go leor fágtha acu chun billí a íoc agus na soilse a choinneáil ar siúl. Tá polasaí ag an Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, nach mbeidh cead ag na comhlachtaí fuinnimh tithe a dhícheangal le linn an gheimhridh, ach ní bhaineann an polasaí seo leis na 340,000 duine atá ag úsáid méadar réamhíoctha. Thug an Taoiseach a fhocal, gealltanas, ag an deireadh seachtaine nach mbeadh custaiméirí a úsáideann méadair réamhíoctha á dícheangal. An bhfuil an Rialtas chun polasaí a thabhairt isteach a dhéanfaidh beart de réir bhriathar an Taoisigh?

At the weekend, the Taoiseach gave a commitment that nobody would be disconnected from their electricity supply this winter. That commitment would be welcomed by many people who are very concerned and worried. Yesterday, when he was pressed by our party leader and other Members of the Opposition about how this will work in detail and in practice, he was not able to provide any answers. Workers and families are under severe pressure in the face of a cost-of-living and energy crisis. Electricity suppliers are constantly announcing price hikes. Some price hikes came into effect this week. The Government's continuing refusal to cap electricity prices at pre-crisis levels has left people wide open to further hikes. Ultimately, households that cannot pay their bills are in danger of disconnection. In the first half of this year, 712 households were disconnected. That was before the impact of the huge increases in bills and the impact of winter. The weather has started to turn. It is getting colder. Winter is nearly here and workers and families need certainty.

The plan to introduce a ban on disconnections for bill-pay customers from December until February is not good enough. It leaves people waiting far too long for protection and the timespan is too short. There are 125,000 households currently in arrears and this figure, unfortunately, is only going in one direction. What is needed is an immediate ban on disconnections now and to run that ban right through to the end of March. That is crucial because this will not apply to workers and families with a prepay meter. We need to give effect to the Taoiseach's commitment. There are approximately 346,000 households that use prepay electricity meters in this State. The CRU has warned that there could be difficulties in providing additional credits to pay-as-you-go customers. Many of those on prepay meters are already rationing their electricity for fear of being cut off. There is growing concern that these households are effectively disconnecting. Households that pay as they go for their energy are at greater risk now than in the coming months as they are unable to spread the cost across the year like direct debit customers.

The Taoiseach gave a very firm commitment on behalf of the Government at the weekend. As I said, that commitment was welcomed by people who are struggling and will find it difficult to keep the lights on this winter. It was a commitment that was welcomed in particular by the 340,000 people who are on prepay meters, who unfortunately have no guarantee that they will not be disconnected this winter. How is the Government going to live up to that promise? How is it going to ensure that those customers who are vulnerable, those who are paying higher tariffs through prepay meters, and those who are inflicted with a penalty if they want to go onto bill pay have the same certainty every bill-pay customer will have this winter?

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. First, I acknowledge the fact that energy and gas prices are very high. They are likely to rise more in the months ahead before they level off and start falling again. I also remind the Deputy that we had a budget only last week which gave every household, including households that use pay-as-you-go meters, €600 in energy credits over the course of the winter. As a lot of people who use pay-as-you-go meters are on social welfare or are low-income families, they will benefit from the double social welfare payments, the double child benefit payment and measures like the €500 bonus for people receiving the working family payment. All of that will arrive in people's pockets and put more money in their pockets before Christmas. None of that was in the Sinn Féin alternative budget proposal. A lot of help is on the way.

As the ESRI pointed out in its analysis, the least well-off 30% of people will be fully protected from the rise in the cost of living at least until the end of winter. For that reason, the vast majority of people should and will be able to manage their bills over the next few months. I acknowledge that there will be some hardship cases - there always are - and for that reason we need to help. For people who are on bill pay, the moratorium on disconnections runs until the end of February, and for vulnerable customers until the end of March. For people using pay-as-you-go meters, the Deputy and I both understand that that is a much more complicated system because of the way it operates. However, the overdraft people have is now extended to €20, so people can run over the meter by up to €20 without facing the risk of disconnection. In addition, having spoken to some people who are on pay-as-you-go meters, it is already the case that, at least in a lot of cases, people cannot be disconnected on a weekend so that people have the time to top up. That is not the full solution and it is not an adequate solution at this stage. I appreciate the point the Deputy is making about equality of treatment between those on bill pay and those on pay-as-you-go meters. With that in mind, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has been meeting with the energy companies today and yesterday to see what additional measures we can put in place to protect people who are on pay-as-you-go meters.

As it stands, vulnerable customers who are on pay-as-you-go meters have to be put on the most economic tariff. The amount they can run over by has been extended by €10 to €20. At least in some cases, that protection is in place to prevent disconnections at the weekend. I know that is not enough and we will need to come up with a better solution for those hardship cases to make sure people are not disconnected over the winter, regardless of how they pay. Those meetings today and yesterday involving the Minister and the energy companies are happening and we should be able to give the Deputy a fuller response in due course.

The Tánaiste spoke about what was done in the budget. He was wrong about what we suggested. We did have double payments, cash payments and all the rest. I will not go into that because it is a different issue.

I think you should.

He should.

Even with the budget announcement, there is a guarantee for many customers that from December right through to February, no matter how difficult they find it to pay their bills, their electricity will not be turned off. The lights will stay on for those customers. Then there are those 346,000 customers who do not have that commitment. That is the issue we are dealing with here. It is an issue of fairness, equality and making sure all customers are treated the same. The Tánaiste spoke about a €20 energy credit. The reality is that €20 is not going to stretch far. Yes, the companies cannot disconnect people at the weekend or at certain hours during the day but when Monday comes around, the lights will be off and people will have no electricity and no way of turning on the TV, the lights or many other basic functions. That is the problem here. Does the Tánaiste agree with the principle that disconnections should be banned for prepay meters right through the winter? The Taoiseach gave that commitment. Does the Tánaiste stand over that commitment and is that the policy objective he wants to see with the energy companies?

The answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes" but because of how pay-as-you-go works, we have to find a viable mechanism to achieve exactly that. The energy credit is €600. In addition to that, people can overrun by €20 without being disconnected. They cannot be disconnected at weekends and we are looking at mechanisms to make sure we can extend the treatment that bill-pay customers have to pay-as-you-go customers. I believe it can be done.

I can understand why the Deputy does not want to talk about the Sinn Féin alternative budget. I have done some research on that. Take the fuel allowance, for example. Sinn Féin committed to a €5 increase in the fuel allowance. That would be worth €60 to the least well-off people in our society between now and Christmas. We are providing a €400 lump sum. For the working family payment, Sinn Féin would have provided nothing.

That is not true.

These are working poor people. We provided a €500 lump sum. For people living alone, the Deputy's party proposed a €2.50 increase in the living alone allowance.

And €15 in the State pension.

We will provide a lump sum of €200 before Christmas. Based on Sinn Féin's proposals-----

Why does the Tánaiste have to mislead all the time?

-----somebody would have to live alone for another year and a half-----

It is desperate and pathetic.

We are moving on.

As people are being disconnected, the Tánaiste is just going to mislead.

It is the Deputy who should stop misleading people.