Vol. 448 No. 2
134 Mr. S. Brennan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he will provide details of ESB charges to the householder and small business over the past three years compared with charges to similar categories in Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom and the EU average. [1779/95]
The information requested by the Deputy is set out as follows:
Prices are taken from UNIPEDE comparisons, (UNIPEDE is an international world-wide body of producers and distributors of electrical energy).
A domestic customer with annual consumption of 3,500k WH is included, as this is the nearest value in the price comparison to the average domestic usage in Ireland.
In the case of non-domestic customers, prices are shown for the two smallest customers included in the UNIPEDE comparison. UNIPEDE do not include a comparison for a "small business" as such.
The change in value of the punt v sterling from 1992 to 1993 had the effect of reducing prices for NI and the UK by nearly 15 per cent when expressed in Irish pence, followed by an increase of 11 per cent in these prices between 1993 and 1994.
Prices are inclusive of VAT in the case of domestic but exclusive of VAT for industry. The reason for this is that while domestic customers have to pay the tax inclusive price, industry is generally able to claim back VAT.
