Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
306. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of households that use pre-pay meters for their energy requirements; the number of these that are older meters which have to avail of the €200 grant by topping up on three separate occasions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20617/22]
View answerThe Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Act 2022 established a scheme for the making in 2022, of a once-off Electricity Costs Emergency Benefit Payment to each domestic electricity account. The credit of €200, including VAT, is currently being applied to all domestic electricity accounts, and will include prepay meters. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has confirmed that there are approximately 254,000 households that use pre-pay meters for their energy requirements.
The majority of prepayment meters will accept the credit in one go. However, approximately 90,000 of these are older prepayment meters which, due to their age and inbuilt monetary limits, will require the customer to redeem their credit over three separate transactions over the space of a few days.
There is a ‘hard-coded’ single vend limit of €100 on a small amount of legacy prepayment meters. To redeem each stage of the credit, customers will need to buy a (minimum) €10 top up. When they do this they will receive a new 40-digit code which will credit their meter with the government electricity credit when entered. Once the credit is applied to the customer’s account/pre-pay meter they can access it by vending 3 times.
The scheme provides for a credit of €176.22 excluding VAT to be applied to domestic electricity accounts. This means that the total impact for each domestic electricity account will be €200.
The Deputy may also wish to note that information updates, including frequently asked questions, are available on gov.ie at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/4ae14-electricity-costs-emergency-benefit-scheme/.
