Paul Murphy: Urges Nationalisation amid Prepay Disconnection Crisis
Paul Murphy spoke in the Dáil about the growing problem of pay-as-you-go (prepay) energy disconnections and sharply criticised the government response. He said existing measures are inadequate and called for nationalisation and price controls to protect prepay households.
Prepay disconnections raised in the Dáil
Paul Murphy warned that 340,000 electricity prepay households and tens of thousands on gas prepay face winter disconnections. He criticised government “spin” and said a Dáil motion will not stop disconnections unless ministers extend emergency credit and remove exit fees.
Company practices and individual cases
He cited cases of customers being labelled as "self-disconnected" despite being unable to top up meters and recounted an attempt by a company to cut a woman’s gas after her account was inactive for 180 days. Murphy named prepay power owners Ulrich Kenny and Andrew Collins and Pinergy owner Peter Coates, and described opaque fees and large exit charges that trap households.
Policy demands and nationalisation call
Murphy demanded concrete actions - ending exit fees, extending emergency credit, moving households to bill pay, imposing maximum unit prices on prepay, and ultimately nationalising the energy system. He argued “you cannot control what you don't own” and said public, not-for-profit ownership is needed to electrify the economy and reach 100% renewables without prioritising private profit.
Political consequences and appeal to other parties
He accused the government of putting corporate profits ahead of household heat and light and linked deregulation to the market’s predatory practices. Murphy welcomed the motion but urged Sinn Féin to join calls for nationalisation so that future governments will act to protect vulnerable prepay customers.
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It's four weeks now that we have been raising this issue of disconnections of pay-as-you-go customers in the Dáil and what have we got so far from the government? We've got spin, a lot of spin, yielding some false headlines and some false hope for people who are on prepay meters, headlines like T-Shock reassures prepay customers will not be disconnected this winter, but in terms of action to protect the 340,000 households on electricity prepay and the tens of thousands of others on gas prepay, we've got nothing. Tonight, from the government, we've got them saying that they're not going to oppose the motion, so the Dáil will say these people should be protected from disconnections, but I'm sorry to say that won't protect people from disconnections. The government has refused to take the simple actions that they need to take to stop the disconnections of prepay customers this winter. That is, extend emergency credit, remove the exit fees to transfer over from the prepay power companies to others. And as it stands, people are going to be disconnected this winter, and that is going to be on the government. There's this awful phrase that's being used of self-disconnections. The idea that people are in some way choosing to disconnect, they're running out of money because of the cost of living and housing crisis, they aren't able to put any more money in their meter in order to pay for electricity or for heat, and as a result, the heat is going out and the lights are going off. It's not a choice in any sense. I even have a case of a woman a couple of weeks ago who was not only self-disconnected, but the company, prepay power, attempted to actually physically disconnect her from gas completely. And she was informed that she had been disconnected because she hadn't topped up her account in 180 days. Even though there was actually credit on the account, because she hadn't topped up the account, she hadn't activated the account in 180 days, Mary Byrne from Tala, they attempted to disconnect her entirely. There's going to be more horror stories like that if the government refuses to act. So why does the government refuse to act? Is it the case that they just didn't think about it? I don't think so. I think it's because they're utterly out of touch with the 340,000 households, on the one hand. And secondly, they're utterly in touch with the demands and the needs of the corporations. Of those predatory companies who prey on people, who make huge money out of charging people extra because they're on prepay, and charging people, holding them hostage effectively by charging massive exit fees, the government is simply doing what those companies want. Because if the government did what was necessary, get rid of the exit fees, get rid of the Extend Emergency Credit, well then everyone would leave these companies, and the government simply doesn't want to do that. And so who are these companies? Three millionaires control the Irish prepay energy market. Ulrich Kenny, Andrew Collins are on the Irish rich list and own prepay power, while Pinergy is owned by multi-billionaire Peter Coates, who has a wealth of over £8 billion. These are the people who will determine if over 300,000 households have electricity and gas to light and heat their homes this winter. These companies operate with complicated fees and charge structures that lack transparency and are designed to trap people for fear of triggering up to several hundreds of euros in exit fees if they try to leave. This is the reality of the marketplace. And the government accepts that the profits of those three people come before the heat and lighting needs of half a million people. The predatory nature and impoverishing effects of capitalism are laid bare in the energy market that Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael worked so long and so hard to deregulate and privatise so the rich get richer and the poor get cold. These prepay predators should be shut down. Households move to bill pay as part of a nationalised, not-for-profit electricity system that puts the needs of the many before the profits of the few. We absolutely need price controls, maximum unit prices that should apply to prepay just as they apply to bill pay. So stop the extortionate charges. But if you have price controls while leaving these very rich individuals in control of our energy market, then you are going to have to subsidise their ongoing profiteering. You cannot control what you don't own. Therefore, we have to nationalise the energy industry. We have to take it out of the hands of those who are running it in the interest of profit and instead run it for public need on a not-for-profit basis. The climate crisis is too important. The cost-of-living crisis is too severe for us to leave this in the hands of the market any more. We have to nationalise the energy system, use it to electrify everything in our economy that can be electrified, while simultaneously moving as rapidly and as just as possible to 100% renewable energy. That will only be done on the basis of public ownership and democratic control that says this is a priority, even if nobody can make a profit from it. I welcome this motion, but I would also call on Sinn Féin to join with us in calling for nationalisation. To say that if Sinn Féin leads the next government, they will nationalise the energy system because it's what needs to be done. Because that will add the pressure on this government to do what needs to happen. Thank you. Thank you.
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