Dr. Mark Cassidy:

Well, that certainly is not a temporary shock, if prices remain at their current high levels. A temporary solution would be to temporarily reduce VAT or excise duties to get over a situation whereby prices are high for the next year or two. However, if prices remain at their current high levels for the next ten years or 20 years, then having permanently reduced excise and VAT on energy is not going to be the solution to the problem. Then we need to look at longer-term solutions to the problem.