Households up and down the country are facing massive electricity bills this winter. October's bill will land shortly and households are already worried sick at the thought of it. We already know that people are struggling to pay their bills following never-ending hikes over the past 18 months. The facts speak for themselves. There were 715 domestic electricity disconnections in the first half of this year and that was before many of those hikes kicked in. We also know that 125,000 households are in arrears, and that figure is only going to get worse.

The Government's refusal to reduce and cap electricity prices at pre-crisis levels is a big mistake. It will leave hard-pressed families and households wide open to further increases and the possibility of disconnection. As families face into a long winter they worry that they will not be able to afford to keep the lights on. I must tell the Minister that what is being put in place to prevent disconnections is not good enough. The plan to introduce a ban on disconnections from December to February falls far short of what is needed. People cannot wait until December. They need protection from disconnections right now. What is needed is an immediate ban on disconnections now and to run that ban right through to the end of March for every household in the State.

We turn to the 346,000 households that use prepay electricity meters. Despite the Taoiseach's commitment that nobody will be disconnected this winter, we have still not seen any real plan from the Government to protect these households. We know that once the €20 emergency credit runs out, prepay customers are disconnected by default. The Taoiseach said yesterday that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, is looking at waiving the fees for vulnerable customers to change to bill pay but that is only for medically vulnerable customers and not for those in financial hardship. The fees to switch to bill pay should be waived for all customers.

Households that cannot afford to pay need more than being told to seek help from social welfare or the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS. They need a specific solution as we come into the winter period and there are such solutions that can be brought about if the Government will is there to make it happen. As the Minister knows, many suppliers can extend an additional credit, sometimes called a friendly credit, at weekends and public holidays to prevent disconnections. This already exists. To protect prepay customers, this friendly credit should be extended to a 24-7 basis for the duration of the ban on disconnections. This is an unprecedented crisis for households and the Government has a responsibility to ensure that all households are protected from disconnection. There can be no exclusions in this.

We have asked the Taoiseach and Tánaiste what the plan is and today I am asking the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to do two specific things that can provide protection and certainty to households. Will the Government introduce the ban on disconnections for all customers from now until the end of March? Will the Minister guarantee that those using prepaid electricity meters are included by extending that friendly credit for the duration of the ban on disconnections?

I am conscious that funerals are taking place again for three of the victims of last Friday's terrible tragedy in Creeslough. I want to convey my personal and deepest sympathies to all of those who have been bereaved and to the wider community. I know the funeral of James O’Flaherty is taking place at this moment and this afternoon funeral mass will be held for Catherine O'Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.

I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising the issue of the cost of living and, in particular, the issue of the vital continuation of electricity supply for households all over Ireland. I acknowledge that many people are worried because the level of inflation is at a 40-year high. We have had a raft of utility bill increases announced, which in many instances have only kicked in during recent weeks, and this coincides with a time when people will be using more energy when the days are shorter and the nights are getting colder.

That is why the Government has responded in what we believe is a very fair and genuine way in the context of the overall budget package of €11 billion we announced two weeks ago. Individuals in apartments and houses all over the country want to know what it means for them. Talking about billions is of little comfort when you are worried about the next bill. The Government completely understands this. That is why, yesterday, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, and I put flesh on the bones by laying out the specific payment dates for a range of payments through the social protection system that amount to some €1.2 billion. Those payments, which will start next week and which will conclude in early December, are for people who are among the most vulnerable, including older people, those living alone, carers, people on disability allowance and invalidity payments, and working family payment recipients, who are low-income working families.

We are going much further than all of that in the budget, with increases in core weekly rates that will kick in on 1 January and an expansion of eligibility for the fuel allowance for 80,000-plus pensioners and others on low levels of income. In addition, there are the three €200 electricity credits, the rental tax credit this year and next, a significant income tax package that will benefit hundreds of thousands of workers all over Ireland, a once-off reduction in the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, fee and improvements in maintenance grants, a reduction in childcare fees that will commence next year, free schoolbooks at primary level, the extension of GP visit cards to hundreds of thousands of people, the elimination of hospital charges, the extension of reduced public transport fares, and so on. That is just to give an overview of the range of measures we are funding within the overall package.

The Deputy raised a specific issue that is of concern to many people. As she knows, the one-month pause in disconnections generally for non-payment has been extended to three months. She is correct that for vulnerable customers, the pause in disconnections for non-payment has been extended to six months. As the Taoiseach said yesterday, work is being progressed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, to waive the fee to enable people to switch from pay-as-you-go payments to bill pay in order to allow people to avail of the protections that are available for vulnerable customers. In addition, the CRU has directed that all customers with a financial hardship meter, that is, pay-as-you-go customers, must be placed on the cheapest tariff available from their supplier from 1 December. Individual utility companies all have specific hardship funds that are available as well. A change has also been made to allow for a reduced payment for legacy debt reduction, allowing people to pay for new supply and for energy that continues to be provided. Of course, we will continue to fund the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, and our Intreo offices through the exceptional needs payment. I will respond further presently.

Before we proceed, I ask Deputies to take a second to check their phones are set to silent. I just got a bad feeling about my own phone.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Just like the Taoiseach yesterday, when we raised the need for a ban on evictions to keep people in their homes, the Minister spent most of his response reiterating what was in the budget. Some of what is in the budget, particularly for those on fixed incomes and who rely on social welfare, is welcome. However, we are talking about householders who face disconnection. A total of 715 households have already been disconnected in the first part of this year alone, before we get to the winter period. We do not have certainty as to the timeline for the electricity credits.

Of course, we would have taken different steps and made different decisions in order to provide certainty to households. The vast majority of people and households do not receive the fuel allowance. They are being left extremely vulnerable because they do not have supports in regard to energy prices, which are increasing, and they do not have as easy access as the Government contends they do to the additional needs payment, in respect of which it is taking between five and eight weeks for a decision to be made. If you have a utility bill, you cannot wait two months for a decision on emergency financial assistance. I am speaking specifically about a ban on disconnections for householders who are on prepaid meters, of whom there are 346,000. They will take no comfort from the Minister's response.

The reality is seen when we look at this in the round. Bill pay customers have that three-month period in which there cannot be a disconnection for non-payment. For vulnerable customers, that has been increased to six months. I have outlined a whole series of interventions that have been made to assist pay-as-you-go customers. We acknowledge they are in a different and more vulnerable situation because, in the absence of anything else happening, if their credit is gone, then the power, in essence, will stop. There should be no reason to do with financial hardship that anyone loses power supply this winter. We have to look at this in the round, including all the interventions we are making and all the cash supports that are being made available to the most vulnerable all over Ireland, in addition to the strengthening of protections being introduced as a result of the work the regulator is doing. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, continues to engage with the regulator. We certainly do not want to see any vulnerable household lose its electricity supply this winter. We do not believe that should happen and we believe sufficient supports have been put in place to prevent it from occurring.