Mr. John Kinnane:

The Deputy's first point was about the knowledge or otherwise of energy regulation. I will hold my hands up and say that I am certainly no expert on this. In response to Deputy Lahart's question, I understand that while price caps could be implemented, there are certain key considerations. The key driver of the increase in costs is the increase in raw material prices, including natural gas and oil. The ability for energy companies to absorb this may be limited and price caps could be an issue. In the UK, some electricity suppliers which had a price cap went out of business. The other crucial aspect follows on from points made by Mr. O'Connor about distributive impacts of the measures taken. A cap is broad-based by its very nature and everybody benefits. The measures the Government introduced in February applied a mix of broad-based measures through the energy credit and using the fuel allowance, in the social welfare system, to provide additional support of €225 in two lump sum payments to the 370,000 recipients of the fuel allowance. This approach of targeting funding and support to the most vulnerable can be effective in alleviating the burden on people who are experiencing difficulties.