John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Chairman, and I thank the officials for their presentations. I have two questions. They relate to a couple of pieces I was reading about France. In the context of the offsets by the Government, my layman's interpretation is that if you throw money at an economy during an inflationary period in terms of wages and things like that, it just helps to drive up the cost of living if the relevant measures are not targeted. I advise our guests the cost of living is significantly impacting on constituents of mine, as it is on those of all my colleagues. I read an interesting article about France. The country was in election mode, but that does not matter. The article stated: "A decision last year to limit the amount by which France’s largely state-owned energy companies could raise prices has benefited consumers and taken some of the inflationary pressure off industries that depend on gas and electricity." The article also points to the fact that the electricity component of inflation in France has risen by 4% in the past 12 months but by an average of more than 27% in the eurozone generally. France obviously took a measure there. It could not ban an increase in energy prices by the energy suppliers but it did bring in a regulation that restricted the amount by which the suppliers could raise their prices. My first question relates to whether those options open to Ministers here. The officials may come back and say that France has had other problems, with other costs of living skyrocketing too.

Another piece I read recently also relates to France. Macron has won the election and must deliver on some promises. I am interested in the following concept though. He is looking at trying to cap the prices of say, the top 120 essential items that we would get in our supermarkets or that families need. In other words, this would cover the staples. I would like to hear the officials reactions to those two issues. I have no other questions after that. I am happy to just get feedback on those two pieces.