Dr. John Curtis:

We are not advocating a carbon tax on its own in isolation from the recycling of revenue. The ESRI has made it clear that how the revenue is recycled is important to gain the benefit of the tax. The ESRI has three teams looking at different aspects of the carbon tax. As we published last week in our quarterly economic commentary, one of the teams is looking at whether the revenue should be handed back in a green cheque or targeted at those most in need. It was concluded that even though giving every household back the same amount in a green cheque would compensate for the extra tax, it would be much better to focus the recycling of revenue on those most in need, including the fuel poor. That was clearly demonstrated. It has been suggested we have been entirely focused on the carbon tax, but I do not think we have done that. What are the alternatives? I have spent a couple of years looking at household retrofits. In collaboration with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, I have looked at the data for people taking out retrofit grants and how they have responded to such initiatives. Some of the conclusions from that research were taken on board in the plan launched yesterday. For example, it was announced that there would be a one-stop shop to help people to go about retrofits. Even though the grant encouraged people to become involved, we found that people applied for it but did not follow up on it because they encountered difficulties and barriers, for example, when organising tradesmen. The research we have carried out has influenced various aspects of the plan, not just on the carbon tax.