Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is absolutely the case. The Deputy has raised a particular example. It is always deeply regrettable when people are given notice like that. I hope it will not materialise in that particular case. We can only restate our understanding and acknowledgement that for many businesses, the situation is serious. We know that some businesses have the capacity to absorb the additional costs. Some businesses have been trading well, are highly profitable and can afford the cost of the significant hikes in energy prices. However, other businesses are still recovering after the pandemic. Some of those businesses were not able to trade for part of the past two years and simply do not have the necessary reserves. One of the guiding principles that the Minister for Finance, myself and the rest of the Government used over that time was to help businesses that were otherwise viable. It was a challenge of an altogether different nature, as the Minister for Finance has outlined. There will be a response from Government. We are considering all of the issues the Deputy and his colleagues have raised in the context of the challenges facing businesses at the moment. We will make the final decisions in the coming days.