This is what was committed. It is not just this. It is also supporting parents and recognising the real importance of getting early years care right, right down to the early weeks. We increased paid parental leave from two weeks to seven weeks. We need to go further but this is a real practical change. The increase in subsidies in the budget will not be done until September but it will be significant. Every member of Government parties has said the same thing. We will invest in childcare in the budget.

That is clear. The clever thing about it is that it was done in a way, because of what the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth did in last year's budget, that every penny of that goes to the parents. That is the real practical improvement.

It is true. The Government has a range of work to do, but the three key objectives central to Government are addressing the housing crisis, reforming healthcare and advancing the opportunity we will get from taking climate change from going to the max in what we need to do. In housing, there is not just the Housing for All strategy, which I believe engages on and commits to many of the measures that the Deputy has just mentioned. There is also the national development plan. The clear commitment among every Governme…

Some of the affordable purchase schemes that have been introduced have some of the characteristics of what I understand Senator Moynihan was proposing with her Bill. Under the shared equity scheme, part of the equity can be bought back by the State. We need those schemes. We are starting. Progress on the delivery of cost-rental housing in Shanganagh is slower than I would like, but the work is starting. There are practical examples of work being done in Enniskerry and Shanganagh. I have been engaging with different…

As the Minister with responsibility for energy and for transport I absolutely realise the need for us to protect our people through these extraordinary times. War is setting the price, though thankfully the price of Brent crude oil went down to $101 per barrel yesterday. It had been up as high as $120 and $130 in recent weeks. In two weeks' time there will be that slight reduction but it is high beyond compare. The price of gas is even higher and is of a real concern with respect to the impact on fuel poverty. We a…

If I can explain it; it sets a minimum 33 cent per litre tax.

Prior to the war, our rate was 53 cent per litre in excise. It and VAT are the largest element of the tax. We reduced it by 15 cent per litre. There is, as Deputy Verona Murphy knows, a diesel rebate for the haulage sector of a further 7.5%. That brings it down to 33.04 cent, so there are certain areas where you cannot manoeuvre. There are certain areas where you have to stick to the law. We were talking to hauliers to see if there are other ways we can support people through this difficult time. It is the same wit…

On the carbon tax, one other thing has changed in the last week. At the Council of Ministers meeting on energy last week, the Council committed to introducing, effectively, a Europe-wide carbon tax on transport and home buildings. It will go up to about €50 per tonne. That is what I think the Parliament recommends. It must go through negotiations with the Parliament but there is no one expecting it will be reversed. Therefore, Europe will be going towards introducing this. It already has a carbon tax on the industr…

It was extraordinary we were able to get a derogation from that European proposal.

Second, for those in Hook Head, what every representative in this Chamber and in councils around the country should engage in is the new Connecting Ireland rural bus transport plan, which has the potential to be transformative. It will provide new services so we have options in rural Ireland. That is where I am hoping to put money in the budget because it is our number one transport priority.

There were many different questions there.

It will be difficult for me to address all of the questions. We went to public consultation last September in respect of a process to issue regulations this autumn. The regulations will not affect the householder. They do not consider producers or someone who might be cutting a bog and so on. They focus on the retail side. They relate to smoky coal, wet wood and turf at the retail and sales levels. That was agreed in the consultation last September. It is true that the world has changed since last September as a re…

Out of respect for this House, I hope and expect it will be before-----

-----we break for the summer. The regulation will be along the lines suggested by the Deputy, as we agreed last year. As we have said all along, this, critically, is about restricting all solid fuels that are affecting health. This is not about what we are doing on the bogs or what we are doing in someone's home. It is about public health. It is about having clear regulations that will stand up against legal challenge, which was threatened, to ensure we make this switch.

That is true, but that is an issue relating to the war in Ukraine-----

-----which is a different issue. It is also true for those who are reliant on gas, as I said earlier. There is a significant problem in that regard, as there is with regard to oil. We have a real challenge across all energy areas. That will require significant intervention through the budget to allow us through this particular time. The 80% grant is available to help people retrofit their homes. We are changing the rules in order that people can sell their own power back to the grid. We have put new measures in pla…

That is not what I expect to introduce next week. As I said to Deputy Fitzmaurice, as we said last September-----

Traditional arrangements, such as a local sale where someone who has turbary rights is selling to a neighbour, will not be restricted.

Where the restrictions will be introduced is on the retail and Internet - on that commercial operation. The vast majority of turf sales are done through the mechanism that I mentioned. This is about all sorts of fuels. This is about regulating, first and foremost, smoky coal and wet wood.

It will not affect those who are relying on those traditional local persons selling to them for their heat or their own use. That is the case.