The popular thing to do is to defer because then one will not create any waves but it is not right thing to do for the future of the planet and its people. We need to protect people from rising energy prices and the carbon tax will help us to develop, for example, a really comprehensive retrofitting programme, which is ultimately the best way to reduce energy costs. A lot is happening in terms of retrofitting homes but we will have to do an awful lot more in the future in that regard. On the VAT issue, as I said ye…

Under EU rules, our reduced VAT rate of 13.5% on energy prices cannot be reduced below 12%. If we were to attempt to reduce the rate to 9%, for example, for a few months, the VAT would revert to the standard rate of 23% because we would be opting out of the derogation we currently have. Again, the Deputy needs to put forward proposals that are credible and that can actually be delivered.

We all have a duty in here to be honest with people and not to put forward ideas or proposals that do not have any credibility attached to them and cannot be done.

That is more of the politics-----

Yes, we have been engaged on the matter.

We have had a discussion across Europe. I want to make the point – if I could do so without interruption, as is a consistent habit of the Deputy opposite-----

I want to make the point that we understand fully the pressures on households. The carbon tax does not apply to electricity bills. That is a separate issue. We are monitoring the situation in terms of household pressures. We did increase the fuel allowance. We did provide taxation measures in the budget to try to help people cope with the costs. The costs are global and are driven by world events-----

-----in terms of the response to Covid. We are going to see what we can do.

Our main focus is not to try to come up with false ideas that would never carry, but rather to ask how we can get household bills down in the short term. That is where the Government's focus is. That is why we have used receipts from carbon tax to significantly increase the fuel allowance and increase the numbers of people who will be eligible for the fuel allowance, all to protect people who need protection.

That is what we intend to do.

First, I take the opportunity to thank the Irish people for responding to the current situation. All of the research is indicating, in particular in the past week or two following our announcement, that people are adjusting their behaviour significantly, which is ultimately the way to reduce the current pressure on hospitals and in regard to Covid-19. I watched what the WHO had to say in terms of the overarching issues. Every week, there is a magic bullet somewhere that people keep raising, but fundamentally we are…

First, I would say that, yes, we have to support people and we are, right across the board, in terms of Covid-19 and in terms of very significant expansion of the PCR testing, for example, with 210,000 tests in the last week.

It is all part of it. There is no silver bullet, and that is the point I am making.

There tends to be every week, and that is the point I would make. As I said, there has been a significant expansion of the use of antigen tests, given out freely by the Government. At the end of Friday, 19 November, for example, about 61,000 fully vaccinated asymptomatic close contacts were registered for the delivery of free antigen kits, 100,000 were used by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and so forth.

There is a scheme being developed but we have to get best value as well for the public purse. It is important that we just do not dive into it.

That will happen and we will bring the details to the Deputy. It is our intention to do that, we have indicated that and we will do that.

I would again say, standing back from this, that the fundamental variables that will really change this are actually reducing socialisation, which people are doing, and the booster campaign, which is going to have an impact in terms of the prevalence and continuation of the disease. That is the key approach to this, in my view.

I believe the income thresholds in terms of eligibility for social housing should be increased. As part of Housing for All, that is being examined, along with other issues pertaining to social housing as well, because the Government has a very large social housing programme under its remit. We want to build record numbers of social houses through the approved housing bodies and direct builds from local authorities every year for the next ten years, particularly in the first five years, from this year onwards. We ha…

I have no interest in that kind of carry-on - none - because this gets produced or this gets produced. The bottom line is that I want to get people housed. That is all I am interested in. I have said to the Deputy that I believe it should be increased. I do not think the Department is either, to be honest with the Deputy.

What we are interested in is getting houses built. Some 1,200 new tenancies for homeless people have happened already in terms of the Housing First strategy. These are people who had a history of rough sleeping and who needed additional supports. The Minister, to be fair to him, has kept a weekly oversight of the homeless strategy. Real progress is being made in regard to it and we will continue to keep that focus. Also, in terms of making sure that where people who are genuinely homeless right now and their circum…