Mr. Sebastian Barnes:

The ESRI probably has more numbers on that point. When this shock first happened and we did not know how long it would last or what was going to happen, it was natural for the Government to scramble to come up with a solution fairly quickly. Now we see that the situation is going to last longer and as we go into the winter, which is going to be much more difficult than anything we have seen up to now, the case for targeting is even stronger. It is something the Government really needs to consider.

I will add one point. Often in this discussion, people look at the fact that people on lower incomes spend a higher share of their consumption on energy and food. However, another important point to note is that almost all the saving in the economy is done by the top 25% to 30% of people in the economy. If people have savings or if they are not spending as much as they have in income, when the price of stuff goes up they pay for it without a problem. However, the vast majority of people in the economy, those who basically spend their income each month, do not have any real margin to adjust. This is important in a social and an economic sense because these people will have to cut back their spending because they have no choice.