I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue that is affecting quite a number of people. I have tremendous sympathy for those suffering from long Covid. It is one of the reasons that during the height of Covid, when we had the lockdown, I was insistent on taking strong measures. It was not just about mortality. This was a deadly disease. When a person got Covid, it could lead to long Covid and affect a person's health and quality of life for quite a long time afterwards. People were saying we could get by,…

I do not disagree with the Deputy. There were clinics on HSE sites that were operational before the model of care was rolled out. The intention is to align all of them towards a national service. It is intended that the interim model of care will be expanded to put in place eight post-acute Covid clinics and six long Covid clinics within hospital groups nationwide. Additional aspects of the service have been delivered, including supports within the GP and community settings and online supports. As I said earlier, e…

First, the Government is not a business.

That is an important point. The Government is not a business-----

We are facing the worst global energy crisis ever. It surpasses the 1970s.

It was fundamentally brought about by the war on Ukraine; there is no question about it. The price today for United Kingdom gas on the wholesale markets is 287 pence. By the way, it was 463 pence last week.

This day two years ago, the price-----

-----was 40 pence a therm.

That also illustrates what has happened in respect of gas prices and other energy prices.

The future markets do not look good, either, as a therm of gas to be delivered in January will cost 533 pence and March deliveries are priced at 506 pence. That all indicates the enormous crisis not just Ireland but every country in Europe and, indeed, across the world by and large is currently facing.

The Government has taken measures and we have reduced the excise duty on petrol, diesel and green diesel until mid-October. We will deal with issues in the budget relating to all of that. People save between €9 and €12 each time they fill their tank. We have also given energy credits back to people to cut their bills. I refer to the €2.5 billion basically that was allocated between the budget and the cost-of-living packages. We are planning a multibillion euro cost-of-living package now in the forthcoming budget to…

Lots of people do use public transport.

For those people we have reduced costs. We have also reduced costs of health services. The drugs payment scheme, DPS, monthly threshold has gone to €80, which is a significant decline on what it was two years ago.

Through a variety of measures, including pay and tax reductions, we have taken efforts to reduce the pressure on the public and protect jobs. In the forthcoming budget and cost-of-living package we will take measures as well to alleviate the pressures on people who are feeling it heavily out there; there is no doubt about that.

Again, Government is not a business.

Does the Deputy understand that point?

It is a very fundamental point in terms of how society----

Yes.

No. The Government has to be the key instrument of the social contract in making sure that when a child is born in this country, that child has access to early education, the best of health services, and has an opportunity to progress to primary school, secondary school, further education and third level. That costs money.

Tax does contribute and revenue generated----