With the greatest of respect, Deputy Healy-Rae, stop trying to seek glory for yourself and allow people-----

We can have this both ways. People outside in the real world want to hear-----

They are not interested in the antics of Deputy Healy-Rae in gaining profile for himself.

I want to make this point and I will say it again. Everybody knows that global factors have caused the massive increase in the price of oil and the price of gas. Oil is an internationally traded commodity. We are price takers. The price increases have been beyond the Government's control and the control of most governments across Europe. The impact of the war in Ukraine has been stark in terms of the dramatic increase in the prices of oil and gas. Yesterday, Deputy McDonald said she wanted a 25 cent reduction in pe…

-----but there are regulations and frameworks under EU law that do not facilitate such measures right now. We are working with our European Union colleagues to see whether we can introduce greater flexibility in that area. The same applies to VAT. Home heating oil is not subject to excise duty but is subject to VAT at 13.5%. If we reduced that rate, we would run the risk of having to move to a higher rate, 23%, once the crisis is over because we have a derogation with regard to VAT on energy. We want to protect tha…

That is in the context of €400. The Deputy is the very guy who will be looking for retrofitting grants for people all over Kerry. He will be up here roaring and shouting about additional expenditure for this, that and the other.

Core Government expenditure has gone up by 5.5% this year. We have allocated approximately €80 billion in the budget. With this package and the package announced a month ago, we are already looking at an additional €800 million and we are only in March. This is funding to respond to this international crisis-----

-----which has driven oil and gas prices to exorbitant levels. We are going to continue to work to protect people, particularly those on the lowest incomes.

You cannot do that.

The problem is that Deputy McDonald operates on sound bites and not on substance and that she does not do her homework. That is the problem.

She comes in here every day and just announces what should happen, as she did yesterday. She said it should happen now but it could not. You just cannot bring it down by more than 15 cent.

That is just an illustration of how ill-prepared she was and the lack of homework she did on the subject.

However, we will do everything we can to alleviate these pressures. Since we came into office, we have increased the payments to those with low incomes on the fuel allowance by €1,239 a year.

We have doubled those payments from approximately €630 to €1,239, if you take the €200 electricity rebate into account. What we have been doing to try to help people has been very progressive. I accept that, as the Deputy has said, we cannot cushion the entire blow to the public but we will do everything we can, right across the board. In the package announced a month ago, we reduced the cost of public transport-----

-----we provided a once-off grant of €125 to those on fuel allowance, we cut electricity bills by €200, we reduced the threshold for the drugs payment scheme to €80 and so on. The measures are significant but we understand fully that given the scale of what has occurred, it will not be possible to cover everything that has occurred so far.

These issues will be kept under constant review by the Government. The measures we have announced today will cost approximately €320 million. That is on top of the €550 million package we announced just one month ago. The €125 fuel allowance payment will occur next week and that one specific decision will benefit approximately 390,000 recipients. On the broader European issue, we are advocating for greater flexibilities with regard to what member states can do to offset the pressures on consumers and people more ge…

On the Deputy's reference to Government warnings and so on, I said last week that Secretaries General of Departments have been asked to carry out scenario planning for various potential scenarios. We do not envisage rationing of oil and petrol. We have oil and gas reserves. However, scenario planning can be carried out for varying scenarios and one can be worse than another. It makes sense for public servants to do this. We have asked Departments to outline the potential impacts on the country if this gets worse, i…

The Government works on behalf of the people. The revenues that the Government works with are generated by the people in the economy through taxes.

I did not interrupt the Deputy; I ask her to have the courtesy to allow me to respond.

All revenue in this country in respect of energy taxes has been well debated in this House and across Europe. There are energy directives that we cannot flout or ignore.