When families are unable to pay a meter should be installed like in UK, it should be illegal to take away a supply from people with children. Makes me sick.

14,500 people can’t afford to have light, sometimes heat, sometimes cook, yet our leaders are allowed claim €1,000 a week just for going to their job.

Why was one of the first cost savings made by the IMF not the disgrace that is the overpayment of these people?

I’m saddened by the state of our nation.

This is a dark day for Ireland, please pardon the pun. We can’t keep going the way we are with these austerity measures or the whole lot of us will be living in darkness.

Dark ages is right. Can’t call it living though, can you? What a terrible position for a household/ family to find themselves in!

This is but the tip of the iceberg, and all the indications of being driven back to the Stone Age in less than 10 years while it took over 4,000 to get here, such is the progress of humanity.

civil unrest is just around the corner people can only take so much,

Thought they had decreased?…according to RTE last night…

Not to sound to harsh the ESB bill should be one the first things paid. An Post have a thing where you can ask that a fixed amount of money be taken out of your social welfare payment each week to go towards house hold bills. Even 20 euro a week towards it is 80 a month. I know times are tough but if they made no diaconnections sure we all could stop paying our bills

I don’t know why my comment didn’t appear before so if this shows up twice I’m sorry !
The ESB have no right to pass your details on to anyone or any debt agency
You have your contract with the ESB
Not some agency
Under the data protection law your information should not be passed on

You have no contract with any debt agency unless you pay them monies then you enter a contract with them
So beware

No doubts the politicians are going without electricity. As a story above on t.d’s clearly shows us that their not short of a bob or two. While many of those who elected them go hungry,cold and without loved ones who have emigrated. Shame on them and shame on E.S.B.

The ESB are scum,they wont even negotiate with people having trouble.

I do think that ESB is partially to blame for some people using excessive units of electricity because they use electric heaters to heat their homes.
This method of heating is astronomically expensive.
This equally applies to electrical retailers who promote electric means of heating.
A single bar electric fire will currently cost you almost 20 cents per hour.
It might not appear a huge amount, but added up over the billing period and you face a massive bill.

I had a huge energy bill come through my door after they upgraded my meter. Under estimation and the cold weather last year left me €450 in debt. a simple phone call and they are installing a card meter for me next week. If you bury your head in the sand shit happens.

Is electricity a luxury or a necessity?

Absolute mob mentality crap being spouted here – your account is not passed to debt collection agency until you’ve missed 3 bills and have not entered an agreement to set up a standing order or direct debit for as little as €10 per week.

So basically people are either so fucking disorganized, lazy, mean, no intelligent priorities, leave it until the last minute, or a minute too late, that the provider has no choice. Also most of these disconnections are reconnected within 48hrs – I guess they can pay when they have to.

Look I’m sure there’s a small minority of genuine cases here, but my feeling would be a majority are just taking the piss. CN probably afford cigs, takeaway, beer, etc. it’s a lifestyle choice, I’ve no sympathy for these people. “moral hazard!!!”

I see Harry Rednapp is except from comments….. Anyway the ESB bills are extorsionate

Hi John
I have checked out my rights ( the very few I have left in this country )
Thanks all the same for your reply
By the way can I just say I have never had trouble with the ESB but I know people who have and they have found them very good to deal with but I have heard many horror stories regarding airtricty

Tim James…
You explain this to the elderly when freezing in their homes.
We are not all gifted with your kind of understanding.

The esb have now employed a debt collection agency. They will not reconnect you without full payment to that agency.

Electricity and water and a decent bed are a necessity and the ESB have meters that can be installed in peoples homes to help folk out to pay off any outstanding bills with them why have they not done this for the 14500 customers who have found themselves in a very difficult times . Just remember the D.G. of the ESB was earning 750 thousand per annum so where did his salary come from? Pricing maybe ………….

Why all the adverse comments against the ESB? The supplier that disconnects most households is Airtricity. And what the article doesn’t say is how long households remain without supply when they are disconnected. In the vast majority of cases supply is restored either the same day or the following day. Disconnections are unfortunately necessary when customers refuse to enter into an agreement with their supplier or consistently fail to meet agreements they may have made. Where there is a chronic payment problem pre-paid meters are installed.

CSO surveys have shown that the monthly cost of electricity for the average household is about 5% of total expenditure (rent/mortgage, food, clothing, entertainment, etc). The average weekly food bill is probably equivalent to a two-monthly electricity bill but you don’t see supermarket customers asking for a payment arrangement at the till. They realise that it has to be paid in full there and then. A pity that a lot of people don’t adopt the same approach when the electricity bill comes through the door.